Artisanal fishers and COP29: Climate summit politics in Azerbaijan's Caspian Sea

The 2024 COP29 climate summit in Baku drew international attention to the Caspian Sea's ecological crisis, where delegates could observe oil rigs dotting rapidly receding waters. This article explores how artisanal fishers along Azerbaijan's Caspian shore navigate environmental degradation and marginalizing domestic policies while being excluded from climate diplomacy. Drawing on fieldwork and COP29 analysis, this article examines contradictions between Azerbaijan's international climate positioning and its treatment of local fishing communities, who face shrinking fishing grounds, restrictive quotas and limited organization possibilities under authoritarian rule. Despite frontline climate experience, these fishers had no voice in COP29, reflecting broader trends of corporate capture and small‐scale producer exclusion from global environmental governance. The case shows how proximity to climate summits can paradoxically increase marginalization in non‐democratic states, contributing to understanding of postsocialist food movements and climate diplomacy politics.