Unfortunately, this intentional hunt for women only came after international condemnation of the petrostate of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, having the audacity to go public with a committee that failed to include a single woman.

Indeed, there were more fossil fuel executives than there were women when the committee was first announced. And there were more men named Anar, than women, including Assistant to the President Anar Alakbarov and Urban Planning State Committee chair Anar Guliyev.

Incredibly, President Ilham Aliyev only took a couple of days to unveil the 12 women they had found, including Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Umayra Taghiyeva and Human Rights Commissioner Sabina Aliyeva. At the same time, Aliyev also found another two men, creating a 42-person committee.

When Aliyev announced the 28 all-male committee last week, the international condemnation came swiftly and quickly.

While it would have been nice to hear from more prominent current and former country leaders, women’s voices were notably the loudest.

Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she was “appalled” by the move. Teresa Ribera, the deputy Prime Minister of Spain declared, “no woman to host … may mean… no woman willing to come… resulting in… no COP” on social media.

Christiana Figueres, the former UN climate chief responsible for the groundbreaking Paris Agreement, and arguably one of the most successful climate negotiators of all time, described the all-male committee as “shocking and unacceptable”.

Meanwhile, 75 female business and political leaders worldwide sent an open letter to the president declaring that the best outcomes could depend on the president including “as many women as possible” on the committee. The letter from the We Mean Business Coalition said the eyes of the world will be on Baku, and noted that “gender diversity is crucial to successful negotiations and decision-making, bringing with it better, bolder decisions that have been shown to last.”

The Coalition also highlighted the role of women in some of the most successful COP negotiations, including the Paris Agreement, which was led by women — a notable success, given just five women have even been presidents of these global climate negotiations.

Women’s leadership at international negotiation tables is already lacking, making the need to intentionally include women in organising committees like this one all the more essential. At last year’s COP, just 15 out of the 140 speakers on the main stage were women, a slight increase from the number in 2022.

This is despite the disproportionate impact of climate change on women and girls, including how extreme weather events impact women’s safety and contribute to gender-based violence, the evidence that child marriages increase in areas impacted by climate risks, especially drought, as well as how climate change further prevents girls from accessing education.

As Women’s Agenda shared last year in The Climate Load, climate change is and will continue to affect the safety and health of women in Australia, while women must be included in the massive industry upheaval required ahead if Australia is to be successful in meeting our emission reduction targets.

The swift action taken by the president to appoint 12 women to the committee was “warmly welcomed,” according to Maria Mendiluce, CEO of the We Mean Business Coalition.

But the fact that in 2024 a president is appointing 28 men and no woman to any organising committee is nothing short of jaw-dropping, let alone a committee tasked with organising critical global climate negotiations.

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Azerbaijan, which has been named as the host nation of the summit for 2024, has not included a single woman in the 28-member committee, which is tasked with organising the summit.

The lack of women on the committee contrasts sharply with last year, when the host country, the United Arab Emirates, had a committee comprised of 63 per cent women. 

“I was appalled to learn that the 2024 host country, Azerbaijan, has announced its organising committee – and not a single woman is among its 28 members,” Gillard said in a statement.

“We know that climate change affects the whole world, but it disproportionately affects women,” she continued.

“Research shows women and girls are more likely to be poor and socially disadvantaged, putting them at greater risk from the impacts of climate change.”

According to UN Environment, 80 per cent of people displaced by climate change are women. Climate change has been described as a “threat multiplier” for women, posing threats to livelihoods, health, safety and security for women and girls globally. Women continue to remain vastly underrepresented in global climate talks. Last year, only 15 out of the 140 speakers at the COP28 climate summit were women.

Gilllard went on to encourage Azerbaijan “to reconsider” its decision and ensure equal representation on the organising committee for COP29.

“Gender equality must be taken into account when devising strategies to tackle this growing threat and women’s voices must be heard,” she said. 

Nearly all members of the organising committee are government officials, ministers or heads of state agencies, including the General Director of Azerbaijan’s state gas distribution network.

pic.twitter.com/zyVTKDqFKh

— Julia Gillard (@JuliaGillard) January 17, 2024

Azerbaijan’s ecology and natural resources minister Mukhtar Babayev, has been chosen as the future president of COP29. As The Guardian reported, he has a 26-year history working for the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic.

SHE Changes Climate, a global movement amplifying the role of women in climate action, said in a statement that the all-male organising committee was a “regressive step” and also asked for a “firewall” between the fossil fuel industry and the COP Presidency, citing the need for “environmental integrity”.

“We are inviting Azerbaijan to endorse the inclusion and diversity principles and include as many women as possible on the COP29 Organisational Committee,” the organisation said. “The UAE set the pace last year: the COP28 Committee consisted of 63% women.”

“SHE Changes Climate stands ready to support the women that will be appointed. We will also do everything possible to ensure that the progress made in Dubai is being consolidated. 

“With the world nearing the 1.5 degree temperature increase, it is paramount that we move on the urgent fossil fuel phase out in this decade.There is no time to slide back on previous commitments.”

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