Baku, Islamabad deepen green partnership at climate retreat

Pakistan’s Minister for Climate Change, Musadik Malik, has met with COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev and Azerbaijan’s chief climate negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev to strengthen bilateral cooperation on climate action.

According to Pakistan’s climate ministry, the meeting took place on the sidelines of the informal UN climate retreat in Shamakhi and focused on deepening the green partnership between the two countries, Caliber.Az reports, citing local media.

Discussions centred on climate finance, support for adaptation efforts, renewable energy development, climate-smart agriculture, and disaster risk reduction.

Minister Malik described climate change as a “transboundary crisis that demands urgent, just and science-based global action”.

He stressed that while the Global South bears the brunt of the climate emergency, it is the Global North that is largely responsible for atmospheric damage.

The talks come amid preparations for COP30 and follow up on commitments made at COP29, which Azerbaijan hosted last year.

Pakistan and Azerbaijan have both been severely impacted by climate-related disasters in recent years.

Pakistan faced catastrophic flooding in 2022, displacing millions and causing damages estimated at over $30 billion, according to the Global Climate Risk Index and UNDP. Azerbaijan, meanwhile, is grappling with the challenges of water scarcity, land degradation, and increasing temperatures affecting its agricultural output.

The two countries have aligned positions on the need for scaled-up climate finance and the importance of fulfilling the $100 billion annual climate finance commitment made by developed countries under the Paris Agreement. Both governments have also endorsed the Loss and Damage Fund launched at COP28 in Dubai.

In recent years, Azerbaijan has prioritised renewable energy development, aiming to derive 30% of its electricity from renewables by 2030, while Pakistan has committed to shifting 60% of its energy mix to clean sources under its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).

The informal UNFCCC climate retreat in Shamakhi serves as a trust-building platform for climate negotiators, building momentum between annual COP summits.

The event was convened by Mukhtar Babayev to encourage dialogue among key negotiation blocs, including the G77+China, Least Developed Countries (LDCs), and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

By Aghakazim Guliyev