In a move to galvanize global climate action, Mukhtar Babayev, Azerbaijan's Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources and President of the upcoming 29th UN Climate Change Conference (COP29), has dispatched official letters to participating governments. This development, reported by several international publications including the UK's Business Green, signals a renewed push for concrete climate commitments.
The COP29 President confirmed that reaching a global agreement on a new climate financing goal will be a key item in negotiations at the upcoming conference session. It is noted that the COP29 President is calling on governments to submit updated national climate plans to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Defining a new collective quantified goal on climate finance (NCQG) will be a priority issue for the country chairing COP29.
The letter also mentions the need to agree on an ambitious and realistic climate finance goal taking into account the needs and priorities of developing countries that are Parties to the Framework Convention.
According to the COP29 President, countries will have to work together to agree on climate change financing goals. This is not just Azerbaijan's priority, he said, stressing the need to work tirelessly to achieve this historic milestone together.
Additionally, Mukhtar Babayev informed about events and meetings that will take place in the lead-up to the climate summit, which will be held in Baku with the participation of ministers from countries that have joined the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as well as representatives of negotiating groups and NGOs.
The publication noted the particular importance of taking steps to ensure the full functioning of the Loss and Damage Fund, which was launched last year at COP28 in Dubai and is designed to help poor and developing countries cope with the consequences of climate change.
The COP29 President's letter was published on the same day that UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Stiell, who visited his home island of Carriacou after Hurricane Beryl and was shocked by its devastating consequences, sent a video address to the international community. According to preliminary data, 98 percent of homes and buildings in Carriacou, part of the Grenadines archipelago, were destroyed or significantly damaged.
Stiell said he is now at his neighbors' home and his grandmother's house on the next street is completely destroyed.
Business Green notes that climate disasters not only maim lives but also lead to long-term costs.
It means that all governments must put the fight against climate change at the top of their agenda, the UNFCCC Executive Secretary said in a video posted on his X social media page, adding that more effective plans for adaptation, resilience building, and protection of society are needed.
Stiell said that when he was in his home on the island of Carriacou, he and his fellow countrymen witnessed destruction so familiar to hundreds of millions of people around the world.
He said that the catastrophe that the climate crisis has brought to his grandmother's house should not become the new normal for humanity.
Business Green is a leading UK business publication that publishes materials about the "green" economy and covers environmental issues.
