Istanbul summit puts climate finance at centre of COP31 agenda

The role of climate finance in supporting developing countries and building climate-resilient cities took centre stage at the Istanbul Climate Finance Summit, held as part of Türkiye’s presidency of COP31.

Azerbaijan was represented at the summit by President’s Special Representative on Climate Issues Mukhtar Babayev and Deputy Foreign Minister Yalchin Rafiyev, both members of the Advisory Council to the Turkish COP31 Presidency, Caliber.Az reports via a statement by Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry. 

The summit brought together government officials, multilateral development banks, international financial institutions, investors and private-sector representatives for discussions on climate finance, resilient urban development and preparations for COP31.

Rafiyev moderated and participated in round-table discussions on “Climate finance for climate-resilient cities,” highlighting the outcomes of COP29 held in Baku.

He said the agreement reached at COP29 on the New Collective Quantitative Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG), known as the Baku Finance Goal, established a long-term target to scale up financial support for developing countries to $1.3 trillion annually by 2035.

Rafiyev also highlighted sustainable cities as a key priority of the COP29 Action Agenda, including initiatives such as the Baku Sustainability Coalition and the Multi-Sectoral Action Pathways (MAP) for sustainable and healthy cities.

Referring to the 13th World Urban Forum, held in Baku in May, he said the forum had contributed to advancing the global agenda on climate-resilient cities. He also emphasised the importance of Baku Climate Action Week, scheduled to take place in Azerbaijan next week, in maintaining momentum from those initiatives.

Babayev and Rafiyev also addressed a high-level session titled “A Bridge to Climate Commitments: A High-Level Roadmap for Implementation and Financing,” chaired by Türkiye’s Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum.

The Azerbaijani officials emphasised the contribution of the outcomes of COP29 to international efforts to strengthen climate finance and accelerate implementation of climate commitments.

By Sabina Mammadli