Azerbaijani, Russian diplomats discuss climate strategies ahead of COP29

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin discussed the climate agenda with his Azerbaijani counterpart Yalchin Rafiyev ahead of the UN climate conference (COP29) to be held in Baku in November.

The statement was made by the Russian Foreign Ministry following a meeting on the margins of the High-Level Week of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, Caliber.Az reports

“An exchange of views was held on the climate agenda ahead of the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change - chaired by Azerbaijan (UNFCCC, November 11-22, Baku),” the ministry said.

The sides also discussed topical issues of the UN Summit of the Future taking place in New York and the need to find effective solutions to the challenges faced by developing countries.

"In this context, they noted the balanced guidelines of the ‘Pact of the Future’ approved at the summit on the development of environmental protection and energy cooperation, which are in line with the intergovernmental decisions adopted on the UNFCCC platform,” the Russian Ministry added.

To recap. the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) will be held in Azerbaijan this November. This decision was made at the COP28 plenary session in Dubai on December 11, 2023. During two weeks, Baku will become a global hub, welcoming around 70,000 to 80,000 international guests.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an agreement signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, aimed at preventing dangerous human interference with the climate system. 

The abbreviation COP means "Conference of the Parties" and refers to the highest decision-making body responsible for overseeing the implementation of the UNFCCC. The Convention has 198 member states. Unless otherwise decided by the parties, the COP is held annually. The first COP event was held in Berlin in March 1995, and its secretariat is based in Bonn.

By Khagan Isayev