Vanuatu’s minister highlights urgent need for climate adaptation at pre-COP29 meeting in Azerbaijan

Vanuatu's Minister of Climate Change Adaptation, Meteorology and Geo-Hazards, Energy, Environment and Disaster Management John Salong has said that accelerating adaptation efforts is critically important for the countries most vulnerable to climate change, particularly small island states and least developed nations.

Salong made these remarks during a ministerial meeting on Climate and Development (C&DM) on the second day of Pre-COP29 in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

He noted that the international community is "on the brink", making the need for adaptation to new realities even more urgent.

"One step forward without adequate financial adaptation leads to irreversible climate losses and damages to our countries. This concerns our livelihoods, cultural identity, and essentially our existence," he emphasised. Salong expressed gratitude to Azerbaijan for its active role during its presidency at COP29 and called on all parties to expand climate financing.

Baku is currently hosting the second ministerial meeting on Climate and Development (C&DM) as part of the UN Preliminary Conference of Parties on Climate Change (Pre-COP29), which began on October 10.

This important panel meeting aims to convene environment and ecology ministers from various countries to focus on the priorities of climate-vulnerable nations. 

The C&DM discussions are pivotal in ensuring that the needs of least developed countries and small island states are addressed, particularly in the context of global climate finance negotiations. These meetings are crucial for advancing the specific requests of these vulnerable countries.

The inaugural ministerial meeting was held during COP26 in Glasgow in 2021.

Taking place at the Heydar Aliyev Center, the Pre-COP29 conference is themed “Enhance Ambitions and Enable Action”. The discussions are geared toward strategizing for a successful outcome at COP29, which will conclude on October 11.

Set to occur this November, the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) will be a landmark event for Azerbaijan as it assumes the presidency of this vital climate conference. The COP presidency rotates among the five recognized UN regions, and the event is expected to attract between 70,000 to 80,000 international attendees. Baku Stadium has been designated as the venue, highlighting Azerbaijan's capacity to host significant global events.

Azerbaijan’s presidency for COP29 is committed to fostering a transparent, impartial, and inclusive process, anchored in a comprehensive plan built on two interconnected pillars aimed at enhancing ambition and facilitating action to tackle the urgent challenges posed by climate change.

The decision to hold COP29 in Azerbaijan was made during the COP28 plenary session in Dubai on December 11, 2023. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was established at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, with the goal of preventing dangerous human interference with the climate system. The term COP, or "Conference of the Parties," refers to the highest decision-making body overseeing the UNFCCC's implementation, consisting of 198 member states. COP meetings are typically held annually, with the first COP taking place in Berlin in March 1995 and the secretariat located in Bonn.

By Naila Huseynova