In brief
The U.N. climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, showcases ironic contrasts with the backdrop of Donald Trump's push for fossil fuel expansion. Lydia Kiesling's novel "Mobility" reflects these themes through its protagonist's journey in the resource-rich region.
The U.N. climate conference this year is being hosted in Baku, Azerbaijan, a country rich in oil and often seen as the birthplace of the modern petroleum industry. The timing of this summit is intensely ironic, coming just weeks after the election of Donald J. Trump, who campaigned on a platform that included increasing fossil fuel production and withdrawing from the international climate agreement that this summit aims to support.In the context of these events, Lydia Kiesling’s 2023 novel "Mobility" emerges as a poignant reflection of this dissonance. The story follows Bunny Glenn, an antiheroine whose life journey begins and ends in Baku, imbibed with dark humor and irony. As Bunny grows from a State Department child in the 1990s amidst a blooming oil economy, she eventually finds herself in a communications role at BP during the Trump administration, despite facing the repercussions of climate change.To better understand the juxtaposition of the climate talks in Baku and the political climate in the U.S., I spoke to Kiesling shortly after the recent elections. Her choice of Baku as a setting draws from her childhood experiences as her father served in the Foreign Service. Reflecting on her time in Armenia during the late '90s, she highlights the disparities between impoverished regions like Armenia and wealthier areas like Baku that were flooded with foreign interest due to their oil and gas reserves.The irony flowing from Baku's oil-rich past contrasting sharply with today’s climate crisis forms a backdrop for discussions at this year's summit. As leaders gather in a country emblematic of fossil fuel reliance, the stakes for both climate action and global diplomacy are higher than ever.
