UN official: Climate finance not charity, but global necessity

Climate finance is key to unlocking climate action on the ground, said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell on X page.    

He emphasised that climate financing should not be viewed as a charitable act but as a necessary global initiative, Caliber.Az reports.

“Climate finance is not charity. An ambitious new climate finance goal is entirely in the self-interest of every single nation. We must agree on a new finance goal here at COP29,” Stiell remarked.

Thus, COP29, held from November 11 to 22 at Baku Stadium, marks Azerbaijan’s first time hosting a COP summit and stands as its largest international event to date. A key moment was the signing of a Host Country Agreement between the Azerbaijani government and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat.

A major focus of COP29 is the creation of an ambitious New Collective Quantitative Goal (NCQG) for climate finance. The presidency introduced 14 initiatives to align climate action with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. These initiatives include green energy corridors, clean hydrogen, and reducing methane emissions, alongside the establishment of a Climate Finance Action Fund to help limit global warming to 1.5°C.

Azerbaijan’s commitment to climate action was underscored by the global community’s unanimous decision to select the country as the host. President Ilham Aliyev highlighted that this reflects the world’s trust in Azerbaijan’s leadership in combating climate change.

By Aghakazim Guliyev