“We have opened our door so that everyone can participate in constructive and fruitful discussions. Our door remains open,” declared Ialtchine Rafiev, Azerbaijan’s lead negotiator for COP29, when asked at a press conference about the cancellation of the French minister responsible for climate’s visit next week. “The host country, Azerbaijan, ensured that the process was inclusive,” said Mr. Rafiev, the man who coordinates the difficult negotiations at the United Nations conference on a daily basis. He recalled that some 80 leaders had come to Baku and that “hundreds of ministers” were expected to take over from the technical negotiators on Monday.
In a speech Wednesday to representatives of island states, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev denounced France's colonial history and the “crimes” of French President Emmanuel Macron's “regime” in its overseas territories, particularly in New Caledonia. The French Minister for Ecological Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher announced a few hours later, from Paris, that she would no longer attend COP29 after these attacks, described as “unacceptable”.
Empty chair. Nearly 200 countries participate in the COPs. The role of the presidency of the host country is to provide the framework for producing the consensus by which decisions are made. The poor relations between France and Azerbaijan, linked to Paris' support for Armenia, Baku's historic enemy, have been exacerbated since the resumption of control of the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave following an offensive Azerbaijani lightning, in September 2023, at the cost of the exodus of more than 100,000 Armenians. The French president did not come to the leaders' summit on Tuesday and Wednesday. But before COP29, the minister said she refused the empty chair policy.
The European Union showed its solidarity with France and the Netherlands, also targeted by Mr. Aliev for their control of overseas territories. “Beyond any bilateral disagreement, the COP must be a forum where all parties feel free to come and negotiate for the climate,” responded Jacob Werksman, the chief negotiator of the European Commission, on Thursday. This incident adds to a tense atmosphere for this conference, organized in an authoritarian country, shunned by many G20 leaders and overshadowed by the re-election of Donald Trump in the United States.
Symbolic absence. The Argentina of Javier Milei, a declared ally of the American president-elect whose climate skepticism he shares, withdrew its delegation, although already reduced to the bare minimum, with a handful of experts who had come to prepare technical reports. “This is actually a bilateral issue between Argentina and the UN, and we cannot make any further comments on this,” Rafiev simply responded on Thursday.
The French are still at the COP, in number, with around forty interministerial experts, “as many as in previous years”, we assure the office of Minister Pannier-Runacher. The French flag normally hangs in front of the offices of the French delegation, in the long gray corridors under the stands of the Baku Olympic stadium. Even if this year, France had chosen not to organize a pavilion in the large forum where we find Australia, the United States and dozens of countries.
Observers argue that the minister's absence is symbolic, as the EU has the negotiating mandate for the 27 member states. “The European Union will continue to hold the same positions with or without the presence of France,” an observer who knows the workings of the COP told AFP. But for COP29 to achieve results, “all the key players must be present in the room”, nuance Ruth Townen, expert from the Chatham House think tank. Lola Vallejo, French expert from the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) present in Baku, fears that France's absence at ministerial level will prevent her from influencing the final compromise. “When a minister is there, his voice is listened to more,” she says. “This is the first time that France has neither a head of government nor ministerial representation.”
Delphine PAYSANT
© Agence France-Presse
