COP29 climate summit kicks off today in Azerbaijan Some 70,000 global delegates gather in Baku

The 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) officially begins today in Azerbaijan.

The decision to host COP29 in Azerbaijan, a country with extensive experience in organizing international events, was made during the plenary session of COP28 in Dubai on December 11, 2023, Caliber.Az reports.

The conference will run from November 11 to November 22, with Baku, Azerbaijan's capital, welcoming approximately 70,000 international guests.

The opening day of COP29 will be November 11, with the High-Level Segment of the Climate Action Summit taking place on November 12-13. During this segment, around 80 heads of state and government from countries party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will deliver speeches. The addresses by world leaders will continue on November 13.

It is important to note that the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC has been held annually since 1995. The primary purpose of the event is to assess global progress in the fight against climate change. Since the mid-1990s, the conference has addressed key agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol, which established binding commitments for developed countries to limit greenhouse gas emissions. From 2011 to 2015, the conference also focused on the Paris Agreement, a pivotal international accord adopted in 2015 in France to combat climate change. To date, 195 countries, including Azerbaijan, have signed the Paris Agreement.

By Vugar Khalilov