Azerbaijan on its way to a new climate finance target COP29 CEO article for Energy Connects

The Arabic news website Energy Connects has published an article by Elnur Soltanov, Deputy Minister of Energy of Azerbaijan and COP29 Chief Executive Officer. Caliber.Az reprints the piece.

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing the world today. The seminal 2015 Paris Agreement set a collective target of limiting global temperature rises to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, to ensure we can limit the impact of climate change.

To achieve this requires a rapid energy transition, at scale. Of course, such a transformation must be paid for. The Sixth United Nations Environment Assembly recently identified that the world needs to rapidly shift trillions of dollars into low-carbon investments to limit planetary warming and keep the target within reach.

Determining how we achieve this depends on a mix of the right policies, processes and technologies. Estimates suggest the technologies needed for 65% of emissions reductions required to meet net zero are already available on the market.  But the reality is that we are still limited by our ability to scale their deployment, since the climate finance needed to underpin the energy transition is not currently flowing at a sufficient scale and in equal directions. What the world needs now is the political will to achieve a climate finance breakthrough.

COP29 Presidency’s focus

Climate finance will lie at the heart of climate diplomacy at COP29, as a critical enabler of climate action globally. This is why Azerbaijan has made climate finance one of our key priorities during our COP29 Presidency. At COP29 in Baku later this year, our aim is to bring the Parties together to deliver a fair and ambitious new climate finance goal, which can enable the delivery of climate action across the world, and particularly in developing countries.

Building momentum towards a new set of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which are national plans to reduce emissions, is another key priority for COP29. We are encouraging all Parties to make clear that they will put forward 1.5C-aligned NDCs that will fight the effects of climate change and improve the transparency of reporting on their efforts.

Delivering on these priorities will allow us to realise the two pillars of our plan to enhance ambition and enable action on climate change. Through the delivery of 1.5C-alligned NDCs and by agreeing a fair and ambitious new climate finance goal, together we can support climate action in developing countries and help to make climate finance work better for our planet.

Azerbaijan’s role at COP29

Azerbaijan is ideally positioned to bring the Parties together to deliver climate action at COP29. We will build on our multilateral diplomacy experience and successful four-year chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) together with our understanding of the needs of all Parties in an effort to work with them to find fair and shared solutions.

As a developing and climate-vulnerable country, Azerbaijan also understands what’s at stake at COP29 and what’s needed to enable action. We are also leading by example, investing strongly in the energy transition, and will submit a 1.5C-aligned NDC.

At COP29, Azerbaijan will seek to bring Parties together on this critical issue. Given our country’s important role in global energy security, we recognise the need for a just and orderly transition.

Azerbaijan is a responsible energy provider and understands the need for security of supply. We also supply natural gas to a number of countries, including in Europe, as a result of Azerbaijan’s commitment to partnership and cooperation including ensuring security of supply for the region.

We are embedding climate action into our national development plans and aiming to transition towards exporting renewable energy with the development of 5GW of renewable energy capacity by around 2030, which can be exported to Europe via the Black Sea through the Caspian-Black Sea-European Green Energy Corridor and Türkiye.

Marking our journey – sharing Azerbaijan’s green transition

Like all Parties, we have a responsibility to do everything possible to contribute to climate action and are committed to standing up to our responsibilities on the global stage. That is why the focal points of our current energy policy revolve around the development of green energy and its export to global markets.

Understanding the importance of the green energy transition, Azerbaijan has committed to achieving a 30% share for renewables by 2027. We are already making progress on this target and are working with international energy corporations including, but not limited to, Masdar, ACWA Power and BP on a pipeline of renewable energy projects amounting to more than 20 GW.

Azerbaijan’s COP29 Presidency call to action

By mobilising climate finance, we can enable greater action and enhance our ambition to keep the 1.5C target within reach. That is why the COP29 Presidency is focused on securing agreement for a new climate finance goal and encourages all countries to submit a 1.5C-alligned NDC at COP29. We will spare no effort to focus global attention on the need for all stakeholders to play their part to meet our shared ambitions and leave no one behind.

Azerbaijan, as the COP29 Presidency, is leading by example, which is why we have committed to submitting a 1.5C-alligned NDC and are investing today in the green energy technologies that will power our future.