Climate activist Greta Thunberg has declared that she is boycotting COP29, condemning Azerbaijan’s use of the conference to distract the world from its ongoing ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh).

Thunberg explained to OC Media her decision to join the protests in Tbilisi rather than attend the climate conference in Baku.

She said she was against Azerbaijan hosting the conference, condemning the move as “extreme hypocrisy” by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

“Azerbaijan is a country deeply reliant on fossil fuels, and the Azerbaijani regime has plans to further expand its fossil fuel production,” Thunberg stated. “It’s shocking that an authoritarian, oil-dependent state like Azerbaijan is being allowed to host a global climate event like COP. This decision not only affects the climate but is also an insult to those suffering from environmental and human rights abuses.”

“I am not going to COP29 in Azerbaijan,” she asserted and continued that this conference will be taking place in a country whose regime oppresses its people, continues ethnic cleansing against Armenians, and disregards the climate crisis by prioritizing fossil fuel expansion.