Hurricane Dorian drove sea surges of 18-23ft over Grand Bahama, and Foreign Minister Frederick A. Mitchell made sure his hosts in Baku heard about it. He was in the Azerbaijani capital in May 2024 with two other island delegations, and the trip produced a short document that now carries the city’s name: the Baku Communiqué.
The text is dated 15 May 2024. Tuvalu was represented by its governor general, Rev Sir Tofinga Vaevalu Falani. Tonga sent Prime Minister Siaosi Ofa Ki Vahafolau Sovaleni. The Bahamas sent Mitchell. All three came at the invitation of Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev, whose country was preparing to host the COP29 climate summit that November.
What the three governments asked for
The communiqué is not a treaty and sets no binding targets. It is a statement of priorities for the summit, drawn up with Azerbaijan. The Bahamas foreign ministry, which published the full text, said the island delegations sat down with Azerbaijan’s COP29 negotiating team and listed their demands: a working Loss and Damage Fund, a strong New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance, and a just and equitable shift to clean energy that keeps 1.5C within reach.
The document also records why they were there. It describes small island developing states as especially exposed to higher seas and extreme coastal events, which it says put their cultural heritage and their very existence at risk. It welcomes Azerbaijan’s pledge to make climate money readily available, and it backs the hosts in running a COP29 that is inclusive, transparent and neutral.
Report.az, which drew on the AZERTAC state wire, said the leaders thanked Aliyev for paying attention to the problems of island states. It quoted the statement: “We emphasize the importance of strengthening peace, relief and recovery aiming at increased climate resilience, and welcome an inclusive approach by the COP29 Presidency on these matters.”
Why it matters at home
For families on these islands, the stakes are not abstract. Talanoa o Tonga reported that Mitchell told the meeting a hurricane five years earlier had cost the Bahamas 30% of its GDP, and that recovery was still going on. Sovaleni warned of the existential threat that rising seas pose to small island nations. “We must do everything possible to preserve our land,” he said, according to the Tongan outlet.
Mitchell told Aliyev’s officials that climate change is the number one foreign policy agenda of the Davis administration. He also described how the Bahamas plans to merge its Disaster Reconstruction Authority and NEMA, with more weight on prevention.
The Bahamian ministry noted how large this bloc is. Of the 51 SIDS, which make up 20% of United Nations membership, 25 belong to the Commonwealth. A Commonwealth delegation led by Secretary General Patricia Scotland joined the talks, and the ministry said the Commonwealth was working with Azerbaijan’s COP29 team on climate finance, loss and damage, technical assistance and capacity building.
Mitchell thanked Ali Serim, Vanuatu’s special envoy to COP29, and Shivshankar Nair, Tuvalu’s climate and oceans ambassador, for setting up the meeting.
Sources
- Climate Diplomacy on the Road to COP29 Azerbaijan: the Baku Communique (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Bahamas)
- Governor-General of Tuvalu, Prime Minister of Tonga, Foreign Minister of Commonwealth of Bahamas adopt Baku Communique (Report.az, Azerbaijan)
- Azerbaijan hosts Small Island Developing States to discuss climate action at COP29 (Talanoa o Tonga)
