Historic climate deals from Baku spotlighted as Azerbaijan charts course to COP30 Yalchin Rafiyev joins UN Climate Week in Panama

Azerbaijan’s Deputy Foreign Minister and Chief Negotiator for COP29, Yalchin Rafiyev, led his country’s delegation to UN Climate Week in Panama, held under the auspices of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat.

The visit included participation in key official sessions and a high-level plenary meeting, Caliber.Az has learned from the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

Speaking at the plenary on May 21, Rafiyev detailed the steps taken by Azerbaijan during its presidency of the 29th UN Climate Change Conference (COP29), which was hosted in Baku in November 2024.

During his visit, Rafiyev held bilateral and trilateral discussions with key UNFCCC figures, including Executive Secretary Simon Stiell, Deputy Executive Secretary Noura Hammalachi, Brazil’s COP30 Executive Director Ana Toni, and Brazil’s lead negotiator Lílian Chagas. These meetings focused on the implementation of COP29 outcomes, Azerbaijan’s ongoing contributions, the upcoming 62nd session of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies in June, and preparations for COP30 later this year.

Rafiyev emphasised that Azerbaijan remains committed to reinforcing the momentum from COP29 and ensuring that the decisions made in Baku continue to deliver tangible results for climate action worldwide.

Despite facing significant challenges and criticism, COP29 marked a turning point in global climate diplomacy, producing several historic outcomes that are now shaping international climate policy.

One of the landmark decisions was the adoption of a new global finance goal: developed nations agreed to mobilise at least $300 billion annually by 2035 to assist climate efforts in developing countries, tripling the previous commitment. This target, formalised under the Baku Climate Unity Pact, is part of a broader strategy to scale up global climate finance to $1.3 trillion per year by 2035 through a combination of public and private sources. Rafiyev stressed the importance of this agreement, now known as the Baku Finance Goal, as a major step forward in addressing the global climate finance gap.

Another major achievement of COP29 was the long-awaited operationalisation of the Loss and Damage Fund, a mechanism sought for years by vulnerable nations coping with the impact of climate change. With more than $730 million pledged, the fund is set to begin disbursing support in 2025 to finance recovery and adaptation projects in nations hit hardest by climate-related disasters.

In addition, COP29 broke a decade-long deadlock by finalising rules under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, enabling countries to collaborate on emissions reductions through international carbon trading mechanisms. Rafiyev highlighted this as a critical milestone that opens the door for more flexible and cost-effective climate action.

The conference also strengthened global climate governance through the introduction of new transparency tools, notably the launch of the Baku Global Climate Transparency Platform, which aims to support developing countries in tracking and reporting climate progress more effectively. Inclusivity was another major theme, with COP29 adopting the Baku Workplan, designed to elevate the participation of indigenous peoples and local communities in global climate policy-making.

Sector-specific advances included international pledges to scale up energy storage capacity, integrate water management into adaptation strategies, and deliver customised climate information to farmers, enhancing their resilience against changing environmental conditions.

By Tamilla Hasanova