Category: Azer News

COP30, held in Belém, Brazil, concluded with Azerbaijan playing
an active diplomatic role following its presidency of COP29.
Azernews reports that a high-level Azerbaijani delegation, led by
Parliamentary Speaker Sahiba Gafarova, attended the Leaders’
Summit, where she delivered the country’s statement and met with
several international counterparts.

During the opening of the conference, Azerbaijan formally handed
over the COP presidency to Brazil. Mukhtar Babayev, who chaired
COP29, highlighted last year’s achievements in Baku and took part
in numerous events throughout the summit.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry delegation was deeply involved in
climate negotiations, including two major decisions entrusted
directly to Baku. Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Yalchin
Rafiyev, alongside his Brazilian counterpart, mediated complex
talks between Türkiye and Australia over the right to host COP31.
After nearly two weeks of intensive discussions, Türkiye was
selected as the next host.

Azerbaijan was also appointed — jointly with Norway — to lead
negotiations on the Paris Agreement’s Global Stocktake, a key
component of global climate accountability. Both countries
submitted final recommendations to Brazil, aiding progress on the
adopted documents.

Beyond negotiations, Azerbaijan organised events on peace and
migration, water, health, urban climate policy, and transparency,
while also co-hosting sessions on renewable energy, hydrogen, and
agriculture.

Azerbaijan and Brazil additionally unveiled the “Roadmap from
Baku to Belém,” outlining steps to increase global climate finance
to USD 1.3 trillion, consistent with the Baku Financial Goal agreed
at COP29.

At a moment when Armenia and Azerbaijan are closer than ever to
signing a long-awaited peace treaty, some figures in Yerevan
continue to indulge in the dangerous fantasy that peace is a form
of surrender. Their claim that Armenia is being “pressured” into
peace is not only misleading; it is a reckless narrative that
exposes what they truly desire: perpetual confrontation, not
reconciliation.

Those who insist that Armenia cannot accept peace because of
supposed “humiliation” or “fear” offer no credible alternative.
What, then, is their preferred option? Renewed war? Further
aggression? The continued occupation or attempted re-occupation of
another country’s territory? By refusing to answer these questions
honestly, they reveal the hollowness of their rhetoric.

Real threat to peace comes from those who fear it
most

It is telling that their outrage is not directed at the prospect
of another conflict, but at the basic idea of dialogue between
societies. The mere fact that Armenian civil society
representatives travelled to Baku, openly, safely, and with state
support, is portrayed as betrayal rather than progress. Instead of
welcoming confidence-building measures, they twist them into
conspiracies, accusing their own government of “legitimising”
events they have already predetermined in their minds.

Such actors refuse to acknowledge that Armenia is not compelled
to make peace; it is choosing to, because peace is unquestionably
in the interest of its people. No international pressure is
required to recognise that stability, open borders, and regional
cooperation are preferable to another cycle of devastation.
Pretending otherwise is an insult to the public’s intelligence.

In truth, these voices are not safeguarding national dignity,
but they are sabotaging their country’s future. By attempting to
poison the atmosphere, delegitimise dialogue, and discredit any
Armenian who seeks contact across the border, they perpetuate the
very hostility they claim to oppose. Their position is not one of
principle, but of political opportunism dressed up as
patriotism.

The region has suffered enough. Those who now try to derail the
peace process should be honest: their objection is not to pressure,
but to peace itself.

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The United Nations on Friday issued a stark warning over the
deteriorating situation in the occupied West Bank, citing an
escalation of violence that has resulted in growing civilian
casualties, forced displacement and deepening insecurity among
Palestinians.

U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters that
humanitarian agencies were alarmed by the persistent rise in
violence, noting “casualties, property destruction, displacement,
loss of livelihoods and a profound sense of insecurity for
Palestinian civilians.”

According to the U.N., the number of Palestinian children killed
in 2025 reached 50 this week.
“In total, more than 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli
forces since the beginning of the year,” Dujarric added.

Israeli military operations in the West Bank have intensified
since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023. Since then,
over 1,076 Palestinians have been killed and more than 10,700
injured in attacks by Israeli forces and armed settlers in the
occupied territory. Arrests have also surged, with more than 20,500
Palestinians detained during this period.

In a significant legal development last July, the International
Court of Justice ruled that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank
and East Jerusalem is unlawful and called for the removal of all
Israeli settlements from these areas.

The UN climate conference COP30 wrapped up in Brazil on Saturday
without securing a firm commitment to phase out fossil fuels, a
failure that immediately sparked public protest from dozens of
countries, who warned that the summit’s final draft undermines
global efforts to keep warming to 1.5°C (2.7°F).

The draft outcome, put forward by Brazil as conference
president, avoided any explicit reference to phasing out oil, gas
or coal, following strong pushback from major fossil-fuel producers
and several emerging economies, according to Anadolu Agency.
Instead, it calls only for countries to step up climate action on a
“voluntary” basis.

The omission triggered a dispute on the floor during the final
plenary. COP30 President Andre Correa do Lago briefly halted the
session after delegates from the EU, Colombia, Panama and
Switzerland protested openly and raised their flags to signal their
objection to the text.

When proceedings resumed, he confirmed that the outcome
documents had been approved despite the protests and concerns that
delegations had not been given the chance to voice their positions
publicly.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t see the flags,” do Lago said.

More than 80 countries — including Colombia, France and Spain —
had spent the past two weeks pushing for a clear and explicit
roadmap to end fossil-fuel use.

Colombia was among the strongest critics. Environment Minister
Irene Vélez said the summit had failed its central purpose.

“Colombia will not endorse a text that denies science, blocks
the 1.5°C goal, and turns its back on people and life,” she
said.

President Gustavo Petro echoed that sentiment, writing on social
media that he rejected the final document.

“I cannot accept that the COP30 declaration does not clearly
state — as science does — that fossil fuels used by capital are the
cause of the climate crisis,” he said.

European Commissioner for Climate Action Wopke Hoekstra also
voiced disappointment, saying the EU had hoped for more ambition
but would nevertheless “support” the agreed text.

Despite the backlash, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da
Silva declared the conference a success, insisting “science
prevailed, multilateralism won.” Brazil said it would continue
working within the voluntary framework until COP31, when Türkiye
assumes the presidency.

The summit was also marked by the absence of the world’s largest
oil producer, the United States, which did not attend the gathering
in Belém.