The consensus on designating Baku as host city of the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in November 2024 demonstrates that the global climate change confab can also serve as a vehicle for effectively resolving thorny peacemaking issues, including regarding a settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Russian Foreign Minister’s Special Envoy for Climate Issues Sergey Kononuchenko said at a press conference at TASS.

Baku became eligible to host the global conference for the first time in 2024 after Yerevan withdrew Armenia’s candidacy in favor of supporting the nomination of Azerbaijan, the diplomat said.

"[The parties] managed to achieve, following rather difficult negotiations, an agreement that the Conference of the Parties within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change [COP UNFCCC] will take place in [a country representing] the Eastern European Group and not in a member country of the European Union for the first time in the history" of COP UNFCCC gatherings, Kononuchenko noted. "[The relevant] countries, specifically Azerbaijan and Armenia, managed to find a mutually acceptable tradeoff within the framework of talks on this issue," the envoy said.

"This [provides] evidence that the climate change platform can serve as an avenue for resolving critical issues, even if not related directly to climate, and can serve to promote an agenda for peace," the diplomat stressed.

Dubai played host to COP28 this year from November 30 through December 12.