Sunday November 17th was the official day of rest for COP29 participants as negotiations stalled, the pavilion chaos closed its doors, and sessions ceased for the entire day. The result: the city of Baku was bustling to accommodate the sudden extreme influx of tourists and foreigners looking to explore the city all at once. I was among them, looking to enjoy some sight seeing and I set my sights on the historic Old City area.

After 1 full week in Baku I am finally getting a handle on how to navigate the city. Maybe. But Old City was a challenge as the cobblestone roads weave in and out of one another irregularly, most roads too narrow to accommodate more than a single person to pass. But it is certainly beautiful.

Excited to give my COP29-overloaded brain a break, I decided to visit the National Museum of History of Azerbaijan which is located just outside of the Old City. My favorite exhibitions were the ancient pottery samples which provided a window into the daily workings of Azerbaijani life going back to Neolithic times. As I moved through the exhibits, getting closer and closer to contemporary times, I noticed I was enjoying myself a little less the closer I got to today. As the exhibits’ foci shifted from historical intrigue to modern socio-political landscapes, modern war, and economy I became reminded of the reality of historical trauma that the global proletariat have endured under oppressive regimes the world over.

I learned that the very first oil industry began in Baku, Azerbaijan. As early as the 1200’s, famous Venetian traveler Marco Polo recorded his chancing upon what is thought to be an oil well in Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijanis used to procure oil for use in burning and fire, an effect of combustion and a very early precursor for the use of oil in combustion engines and global transport. According to the United Nations, fossil fuels account for over 75% of greenhouse gas emissions as well as over 90% of carbon dioxide emissions globally.

It was not lost on me how ironic it was that I traveled halfway across the world for COP29, with a mind to dismantle the global reliance on fossil fuel usage, without realizing I was also on a pilgrimage to the source of the oil industry itself.

In 1806 the Russian Empire occupied Baku and began a monopoly on Azerbaijani oil. At the National Museum of History of Azerbaijan the exhibit showcasing this time period said in plain terms: The Russian Empire exploited Baku’s oil resources, exporting Baku oil products to Russia while providing no compensation to Azerbaijan in the process. And as Vladimir Lenin famously said, ‘Soviet Russia cannot survive without Baku oil.’ — resulting in the Russians Red Army occupation of Azerbaijan until its fall in 1991. Azerbaijan finally claimed independence in 1991.

A large cause of social turmoil, oppression, and exploitation of Azerbaijan throughout history has to do with their access to a valuable commodity gifted to this area through the natural resources located on this land. Learning the history of Baku and the exploitation of land here led me to think about something I noticed at COP29 this past week that has been on my mind: the expansion of ecotourism and the well meaning greenwashing of colonial exploitation.

In many discussions occurring at COP29 this year there is a focus on solution building and how the proverbial ‘we’ will fund sustainable climate mitigation and adaptation movements. As the United Nation likes to point out, the first and worst effects of the global climate crisis are being felt by the Indigenous peoples of the world. Right now, our island relatives are already navigating devastating losses of natural habitat and shifting geography resulting in further degradation of traditional ecological knowledge systems.

The irony is that many of these island communities also support a disproportionate fraction of global tourism. In an effort to experience paradise, the Global North flock to island communities and spend portions of their salaries in these places in the process. Many sessions and government entities are now proposing efforts and techniques to expand this spending power to allow for further economic stimulus in these communities so that they may have an easier time supporting their climate adaptation efforts.

While I will never knock a hustle on the part of the Indigenous folks looking to increase earning potential in their communities, I am alarmed that we are entertaining government representatives from the Global North who are actively proposing ways for the Global South to increase the exploitation of their natural resources in order to… save their natural resources?

Why is the burden of climate adaptation being placed upon communities that contribute to the climate crisis the least?

There are generational fishing traditions in Jamaica which cannot be practiced today due to hotels and resorts monopoly on beach front property. Delicate reefs are being compromised due to tourism. Native peoples in Tuvalu are watching their ancestral coastlines dissipate within their lifetimes. The burden of funding climate adaptation, cultural preservation and environmental protections should not fall upon those who have been burdened and exploited the most themselves. Us Native folks have already lost so much and continue to find our ways are compromised in the face of the climate crisis. It is time the Global North pay their equitable share. Quit pretending these carbon credits will reverse the damage done and roll up your sleeves.

Antavia is a Climate Generation Window Into COP delegate for COP29. To learn more, we encourage you to meet the full delegation, support our delegates, and subscribe to the Window Into COP digest.

Antavia descends from the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and grew up in South Minneapolis. She earned her associates degree at Minneapolis College as a Power of You scholar and continued her studies in chemistry at Metro State University as an Increasing Diversity in Environmental Careers Fellow, as well as abroad in Cuernavaca, Mexico as a Gilman International Scholar. Antavia has been a PhD student of chemistry at the University of Minnesota where she helped teach undergraduate analytical chemistry labs and spent time researching and synthesizing porous nanoparticles for PFAS phytoremediation as a 3M Science and Technology Fellow. In her work she develops and implements a STEM curriculum that honors and supports Indigenous ways of knowing and cultural protocol for Native American high school students in South Minneapolis. Her work in STEM educational equity has been shown to increase science interest and engagement for Indigenous girls in particular.

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Ecotourism or Exploitation?