A contrast of tradition and modernity in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo by Dan Mason/Flickr

This year, the annual 29th Conference of the Parties to the landmark UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP29) will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan. With the fossil fuel industry’s obligations regarding climate change mitigation high on the agenda, the event’s location in a country that describes itself as the “historical homeland of oil” — the site where the first petroleum oil wells were dug in the 1840s — is not insignificant. 

In Modern Persian, Azerbaijan translates to “the Land of Fire” and is termed as such for its ancient burning oil and gas seeps: located on a hillside near Baku, for instance, a natural gas fire blazes continuously from a layer of porous sandstone. These natural resources have fuelled the country’s economy for centuries—in 1901, half of the world’s oil was produced in Baku, from 1900 wells that operated within an area of just six square miles. 

Today, Azerbaijan is a much less central player, producing under 1% of the world’s oil and gas. Yet, fossil fuels comprise over 90% of all exports and 64% of government revenue. 

Looking to this year’s climate conference, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has reminded signatories of the need to deliver on last year’s promises to accelerate the global energy transition towards renewable sources. The Azerbaijani government has been investing considerably in transitioning its national grid toward renewable energy, including installing its first large-scale solar power plant. Reducing economic reliance on fossil fuels for export remains a knotty challenge for the country – though plans to begin exporting low-carbon wind and solar power to eastern Europe are already in the pipeline.

Azerbaijan’s COP29 Presidency plan is centred on two pillars: “enhancing ambition” – getting all parties to commit to ambitious national plans and transparency – and; “enabling action” – shoring up much-needed increases in finance to reduce emissions, adapt to climate change and address loss and damage. 

In line with the latter, Azerbaijan has launched the Climate Finance Action fund, which will invest annual financial contributions from fossil fuel-producing countries and companies in helping member states to meet their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement, and fund climate resilience actions in the developing world. The country initially sought a levy on fossil fuel production, but shifted its strategy to the voluntary and non-binding fund after facing resistance from other producer countries.

Women celebrating tNar Bayrami is an annual festival in October/November in Azerbaijan’s Goychay region. Photo by Mammad Rahimov/Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan itself is no stranger to climate change impacts. It’s part of the mountainous Caucasus Region, which bridges Europe and Central Asia, stretching from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea, and is home to a high number of endemic species, including the endangered Caucasian Leopard [Panthera pardus tulliana]. The region is experiencing increasing temperatures, shrinking glaciers, sea level rise, reduction and redistribution of river flows. More frequent extreme weather-related events – such as flooding, landslides, forest fires and coastal erosion – have resulted in significant economic losses and human casualties. 

In neighbouring Central Asia, rural populations prevail under frequently adverse conditions of extreme droughts, high mountainous regions, and a global warming effect far above the global average rate. Agriculture is usually only possible under irrigation, which needs to be managed especially carefully as climate impacts take hold.

Despite this, the area is one of the global genetic centres of the diversity of many agroforestry fruit and nut species, as the birthplace of a long list of favoured fruits and nuts like apples, apricots, pomegranates, almonds, cherries, and walnuts and pistachio. 

However, in the years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, this genetic diversity has come under threat, jeopardizing the genetic basis for a response to heightened climate change. International actors like the CGIAR responded soon after the Soviet collapse by supporting the establishment of national seed and gene banks in Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, which persist to this day.   

Now, in places such as rural Tajikistan, there’s a resurgence of interest in tree planting for food and livelihoods. For instance, researchers at the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) noted the impact of remittances from migrant workers working abroad on sustainable land use in their home landscapes.