Cop29, no woman in the 2024 organizing committee

Swill composed only of men the organizing committee of the next UN climate conference, Cop29, which will be held in Baku from 11 to 24 November. Azerbaijan is not off to a great start as it will host the 29th climate summit in its capital, which has already attracted a lot of criticism even before it has begun.

COP29, no women in the organizing committee

In the press release commenting on the incident, the group of activists She Changes Climate states that: «This committee is a step backwards on the path to gender equality in the climate. But there is still time for change. We demand equal representation in the governance of this year’s climate talks, because Climate change affects the whole world, not half of it».

Azerbaijan’s strange decision

The choice on Azerbaijan was made almost at the last minute due to the veto imposed by Russia on the candidacies of EU member countries, due to the sanctions imposed on it for the military invasion of Ukraine.

The situation was resolved at the end with the choice of‘Azerbaijan also a candidate to host COP29. A decision that was immediately criticized and for the fact of having chosen a country that exports the same fossil fuels identified as the main cause of pollution of the planet. But most of all for being a country where women suffer systemic discrimination.

Azerbaijan, a country ahead on equality

At least according to what the activists say, because when you look at it it doesn’t seem that way. Just think about the fact that was the first Muslim-majority country to have granted women the right to voteuniversal suffrage was introduced in 1919. To the fact that women’s participation in politics has no restrictions, so much so that between 2005 and 2020 the percentage of women parliamentarians increased from 11 to 17.6%.

Not to mention that in 2020 a woman was appointed president of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan and in the Government there was a minister of education and one of culture. And there was no shortage of a human rights commissioner, three ambassadors and a head of diplomatic headquarters.

Cop29, the absence of women is not a good sign

Despite this, however, second Amnesty International the country is not that far ahead on gender equality. In fact, in 2020, the organization documented several systematic attempts to silence women activists through smear campaigns. And now, also the decision not to include any women in the COP29 organizing committee which will, obviously, be a closely watched event. Not a good sign for a country that already has other battles to fight.

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