Azerbaijan presents Baku Climate and Peace Action Centre at COP16 PHOTO

The Baku Climate and Peace Action Centre, established at COP29, was officially presented at COP16 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during the global conference on desertification.

Elshad Iskenderov, Ambassador-at-Large of Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, emphasized that COP29 placed a significant focus on maintaining international peace, with a dedicated Day of Peace, Relief, and Recovery held on November 15, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

He highlighted the importance of the Baku Centre, which aims to lead international efforts to assist vulnerable countries, home to over 450 million people, that are grappling with the devastating impacts of climate change and conflict.

Iskenderov revealed that the Baku Centre has already secured cooperation agreements with various UN institutions and international aid agencies. He further outlined that Azerbaijan is working with a number of countries, including England, Germany, Italy, Egypt, the UAE, and Uganda, as part of the Centre's initiatives. The Centre’s permanent secretariat will operate out of Baku.

COP16, taking place from December 2 to 13, 2024, in Riyadh, is convened under the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). This session seeks to address critical global challenges like land degradation, drought, and desertification, urging accelerated action in sustainable land management. The conference is positioned as a pivotal moment for a renewed global commitment to land restoration and enhancing drought resilience.

COP16 brings together leaders from governments, the private sector, civil society, and other global stakeholders to set a unified path forward to combat desertification and land degradation. The conference is seen as essential to halting the ongoing global loss of fertile land, marking a key turning point in efforts to restore and preserve ecosystems worldwide.

Looking back, COP29 in Baku was hailed as a breakthrough event for international climate negotiations. One of the significant outcomes was the resolution of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, a long-standing issue that had hindered progress for nearly a decade. This resolution will facilitate the operationalization of carbon markets, enhancing global cooperation on climate actions such as renewable energy projects and the phasing out of coal plants.

By Tamilla Hasanova