Azerbaijan focuses on climate action and energy transition ahead of COP29 Climate change champion's interview with Business Green

Azerbaijani MP Nigar Arpadarai, who was recently appointed as the High-Level Climate Champion for the upcoming COP29 Climate Summit in Baku, gave an interview to the British website Business Green. Caliber.Az reprints the material.

Azerbaijan politician and former Formula 1 spokesperson pledges to focus on 'private sector and women' in her role as UNFCCC climate champion.

Nigar Arpadarai has pledged to use her platform to "advance inclusiveness" at the talks.

Writing exclusively for BusinessGreen this morning, Arpadarai vowed to "inspire everyone to become a climate champion, to play a role in protecting the planet" during her two-year tenure as UNFCCC High Level Climate Champion.

The role of High Level Climate Champion was created at the COP21 Climate Summit in 2015 to connect the work of national governments with the voluntary actions taken by cities, regions, businesses, and civil society on the sidelines of formal UN negotiations.

Arpadarai said she would focus on the "private sector and the role of women" in the role, building on her "career background and personal experience".

But she stressed that all non-state actors had a role to play in driving climate action. "Regardless of your role within the world economy, and regardless of your age and gender, you can be part of the solution," she wrote. "You too can, and should be, a climate champion."

Arpadarai, who has served as a Member of Parliament for Azerbaijan since 2020, is no stranger to promoting Azerbaijan on the global stage. Prior to becoming MP for a central constituency of Baku city, she was the official spokesperson of the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The politician today highlighted Azerbaijan's climate and energy targets, pointing to the government's plan to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 35 per cent by 2030, rising to 40 per cent by 2050, and to increase the share of electricity generation provided by renewables to 30 per cent by 2030.

"We are currently undergoing a rapid and efficient transition away from fossil fuels while ensuring it does not negatively affect the welfare and income of our people," she said.

The Azerbaijan government's climate record and ambition are set to be closely scrutinised over the coming months as it gears up to host COP29, alongside its willingness to engage with civil society and accommodate protests on the sidelines of the Summit.

The country is heavily dependent on oil and gas and has a plan to increase exports of gas to Europe over the coming years. Meanwhile, experts have warned the government's current targets are not aligned with a 1.5C compatible decarbonisation pathway.

COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev has said the country will update its climate targets ahead of the Baku Summit to align with the Paris Agreement's temperature goals.

Arpadarai has defended her government's record on climate, arguing the South Caucasian country was responsible for just a small proportion of global oil and gas production and global emissions. She also stressed that many of the country's emissions-intensive fossil fuel assets pre-dated Azerbaijan's independence from the USSR.

 "Although as a nation Azerbaijan is responsible for around one per cent of global oil and gas production, and around one per cent of global emissions, we feel that as COP hosts we should lead by example," she wrote.

The government is working to modernise "antiquated methods oil and gas production methods" that had been "foisted on Azerbaijan" when the country was under Soviet control, she said. "We still struggle with the heritage of decades of extensive and irresponsible exploitation of Azerbaijan's oil and gas resources that took place before my country became independent," she wrote. "Methane is the most potent of all greenhouse gasses, so now we are not only securing abandoned Soviet-era sites but also introducing methane-reduction working practices, such as zero-flaring."

Earlier this year, Azerbaijan signed the Global Methane Reduction Pledge, which calls on governments to reduce methane emissions by 30 per cent on 2020 levels by 2030.

During her first year in the role, Arpadarai will work alongside UAE high level champion Razan Al Mubarak. Once the COP29 Climate Summit is finished, she will work with an official appointed by Brazil, which is due to host the crucial COP30 Presidency in 2025 where governments will be tasked with submitting updated national climate action plans.

The UAE, Azerbaijan, and Brazil have formed a troika aimed at ensuring progress from one COP to the next and ramp up pressure on countries to deliver an ambitious new deal on climate finance and a series of new national climate action plans that can accelerate global decarbonisation efforts.

In related news, COP28 President Sultan Al-Jaber has announced the UAE is to hold a summit in Abu Dhabi at the start of November where fossil fuel and technology executives will discuss the role of artificial intelligence and the energy transition.

The Financial Times reported last week that Al-Jaber - who is also a UAE minister for industry and advanced technology and head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) - intends to invite chief executives from Silicon Valley and Big Oil to the gathering.

Al-Jaber told the paper that his "message to the tech sector" was "AI needs energy and energy needs AI". "Let's collaborate to drive down the emissions of the conventional energy you will still need, and on ways that AI can drive energy efficiency," he said.

The "change makers majlis" - named for the Arabic word for special gathering - is scheduled to take place before the ADIPEC conference, a major oil and gas conference held annually in Abu Dhabi.