Baku Pre-COP29: Focus on ambition, action, and global climate solutions Caliber.Az exclusive report

UN’s Preliminary Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (Pre-COP29) themed “Enhance Ambitions and Enable Action” took place in Baku on October 10.

The opening ceremony was attended by Mukhtar Babayev, COP29 President-designate, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, President of COP28, Amina Jain Mohammad, UN Deputy Secretary General, Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and Nabeel Munir, Chairman of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and other officials, Caliber.Az correspondent reports from the scene. 

Pre-COP discussions focus on making progress on key priorities before COP29, including climate finance, specifically the New Collective Quantified Goal, mitigation, adaptation, and supporting vulnerable communities in global climate solutions.

At the opening of the Pre-COP29 event in Baku on October 10, President Mukhtar Babayev emphasized the importance of addressing climate change and announced the launch of the COP29 Action Program. Babayev, who is also the COP29 President-Designate and Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, noted that throughout the year, the COP29 presidency has listened to the problems, concerns, and priorities of all stakeholders. "We believe there is broad agreement with the COP29 presidency's vision aimed at increasing ambition and intensifying action," he stated.

During a side event on the "Roadmap for the 1.5 C mission," Babayev highlighted the urgency of the climate crisis, urging attendees to act in solidarity for a greener world. "We need to stop blaming one another for who is at fault; instead, we should focus on achieving collective success in this challenging mission,” he said. 

He also pointed out that current scientific data indicate a troubling trend: “In the first six months after COP28, the economic consequences of extreme weather conditions reached $41 billion. From Typhoon Yagi in Southeast Asia to Hurricane Milton in the USA. Everyone is suffering, and the cost of inaction is growing.”

Babayev expressed Azerbaijan's conviction that trust and shared learning can help achieve climate goals. “By enhancing international cooperation, we can build a resilient future,” he affirmed. He concluded by announcing that the Baku Declaration will be signed during COP29, reinforcing Azerbaijan's commitment to global climate action.

UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed in her speech said that COP29's outcomes on quantitative accounting and climate financing will test the international community's commitment to implementing Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). She called on the global community to work together to achieve a lasting agreement, as "the world desperately needs it."

“We need something to restore hope, and solving the climate crisis could be it. The next 13 months will be critical, so we must be bold in our ambitions and act urgently. We are at the moment of truth in the fight against climate change,” a UN official added.

Nigar Arpadarai, the UN High-Level Climate Champion for COP29, emphasized that the climate issue is connected to everyone. “This subject is connected to everyone. This is the world we live in,” she said. In this context, Arpadarai stressed the crucial role of the private sector in achieving climate goals. According to her, climate finance would be insufficient without the active participation of private capital. "We need the private sector," Arpadarai stressed. 

However, she pointed out that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are often lagging behind in this regard. "This is another goal we want to achieve. Because small and medium-sized enterprises are the real economy, they provide 90% of economic growth," she added. She also called for collaboration between the private sector and government to ensure comprehensive progress.

Zulfiya Suleimenova, Advisor to the President of Kazakhstan and Special Representative for International Environmental Cooperation, stated that Azerbaijan, as part of its chairmanship of COP29, has raised the discussion of climate action transparency to a high level.

According to her, Azerbaijan has taken the bold step of truly trying to create a unified platform" that helps better coordinate its actions with existing platforms in the field of climate transparency.

"I hope this process will help in building transparency [in the field of climate change] and continue to build confidence in the process and, of course, trust between all stakeholders," she said.

Suleimenova urged that our actions must speak louder than our words: “Good text doesn’t help us in times of disaster. What really matters are concrete actions and what we actually doing.”

In conclusion, Suleimenova called for patience and belief in this journey, quoting the Russian saying, "Moscow wasn't built in a day."

COP28 President Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said at a panel session that, the activity of the COP Troika of Presidents, aimed at maintaining the momentum achieved at COP28, is a critically important factor for success.

He noted that through joint efforts, this momentum should transition from COP28 to COP29, and then to COP30.

"Solidarity can make a real difference. We must cooperate to ensure that each NDC (Nationally Determined Contributions - ed.) has the highest possible ambitions, is balanced across all components, and has the potential for implementation," he said.

Al Jaber stressed that only through the efforts of the international community will it be possible to ensure fairness in climate progress.

By Aghakazim Guliyev