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Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has announced her decision to boycott the upcoming COP29 climate summit, set to take place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from November 11 to 22. Thunberg made her statement during a protest in Tbilisi, Georgia, denouncing the UNFCCC’s choice of Azerbaijan as the host for the summit, Zartonk Media reported.

In her speech, Thunberg criticized the UN’s decision, describing it as “extreme hypocrisy.” She stated, “I am not going to Azerbaijan to COP. It is extreme hypocrisy of the UNFCCC to let yet another authoritarian, petrostate and regime to host the COP. Both for the people in Azerbaijan that the regime are repressing, and the Armenians who the Azerbaijani regime is guilty of ethnic cleansing, and also the climate itself that a country which is so reliant on fossil fuels and is planning to expand the production of fossil fuels gets to host the COP

She continued by highlighting Azerbaijan’s reliance on fossil fuels and plans to expand its production, calling the decision “a slap in the face to all the people who are suffering from the climate emergency and from the repression and oppression of the Azerbaijani regime.”

Thunberg also pointed out the restrictions on land borders, saying, “The land borders are closed, so I wouldn’t be able to go there, even if I wanted to. Which is insane; that’s something that I’ve heard many Azerbaijanis describe as being kept in a prison.”

Her remarks have added to the global discourse surrounding COP29, raising questions about the summit’s choice of host country amid concerns over human rights and environmental policies.