The summit from a different point of view
But Rinata Kazak from Tema M - Environmental Change thinks that there are also reasons for optimism. For example, she believes that the meeting could raise awareness of climate change among the people of Azerbaijan.
“Perhaps it can help change the current narrative about Azerbaijani oil,” she says.
She also points out that Environment Minister Babayev has stated that he sees the meeting in Baku as a crucial opportunity to restore confidence between the Global North and South. Moreover, the oil company SOCAR has promised to present a new green strategy to start extracting geothermal energy from the Earth’s interior instead of oil.
Rinata Kazak is the only researcher from Linköping to go to Baku. In the past, the university has received between four and six seats, but this year the UN has decided to prioritise poorer countries that were previously under-represented. Also, the conference venues have limited space. Last year’s meeting in Dubai welcomed 84,000 delegates. Baku only has capacity for around 40,000.
From Kharkiv to Linköping
Rinata has been working at Tema M for two years. She is originally from Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, where she was an associate professor at the university. It came to an abrupt end when Russia attacked in February 2022.
“On the first day, my daughter, who was then five years old, asked if we were going to die now. I said, no, of course not. But I didn't know that.”
After spending several weeks in a bomb shelter, they managed to escape to western Ukraine and then on to Sweden, having received an invitation from Professor Björn-Ola Linnér at Tema M. Her daughter now goes to school in Linköping and speaks Swedish fluently.
“People from post-Soviet countries often don’t want to reply to surveys, so I’ll try to reach the Russian speakers to get their perspective,” she says.
An international law against ecocide
The major discussions in Baku will concern worldwide emissions trading programmes, but Rinata Kazak’s own research interest lies in the legal aspects. There is currently no international legislation on extensive environmental degradation, known as ecocide, and she wants to contribute to designing one.
For example, an international law could be used to hold Russia accountable for the destruction in Ukraine, but also to enable small island nations in the Pacific to better assert their right to compensation when threatened by climate change.
Despite the war, Ukraine will also participate in Baku with its own exhibition pavilion. Rinata Kazak has been invited to talk about her research.
“It will be about ecocide and how we can use the experiences of the war for the future.”
Translation: Anneli Mosell
