- Egypt’s Environment Minister to Lead Climate Finance Negotiations at COP29 in Azerbaijan
- Egypt’s Environment Minister, Yasmin Fouad holds talks with Mukhtar Babayev, Azerbaijan’s Ecology and Natural Resources, Minister and designated COP29 president
- Yasmin Fouad pledges Egypt’s full support to Azerbaijan in hosting COP29
By: Muhammad Arif, Editor NSN.Asia
Cairo: Egypt’s Environment Minister, Yasmin Fouad, will lead the team of climate finance negotiations for the upcoming UN climate summit, COP29, being held in Baku city of Azerbaijan from November 11 to 22,2024.
The announcement was made during a virtual meeting with her Azerbaijani and Danish counterparts on Saturday.
Yasmin Fouad held talks with Mukhtar Babayev, Azerbaijan’s Ecology and Natural Resources Minister and designated COP29 president, and Dan Jørgensen, Denmark’s Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy, to discuss preparations for the summit.
Azerbaijan holds the COP29 Presidency which aims to garner support for climate financing and addressing the needs of all parties.
The meeting focused on enhancing the role of joint ministerial groups tasked with addressing climate issues, particularly the new collective quantified goal on climate finance.
Also, Fouad pledged Egypt’s full support to Azerbaijan in hosting COP29, building on Egypt’s experience as the previous COP president. She highlighted Egypt’s role in managing joint ministerial groups on climate issues, such as climate finance and the global goal on adaptation.
“Egypt will share its experience in building trust, ensuring transparency, and achieving consensus between the technical and political tracks of the negotiations,” Fouad said.
In his remarks, Babayev praised Egypt’s support for COP29 preparations and expressed keenness to engage all climate actors. He emphasized the importance of balancing political and technical aspects of the conference, reaching consensus among various groups, and providing a platform for dialogue.
Expressing support for COP29, Jørgensen expressed Denmark’s pride in supporting COP29 and its commitment to achieving consensus among parties through transparency and trust-building.
In his statement, Yalchin Rafiyev, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Foreign Minister and COP29 lead negotiator, outlined a three-phase roadmap for the summit, including listening to parties’ concerns, initiating discussions among ministerial groups, and presenting results during preparatory meetings.
The meeting was also attended by Ambassador Mohamed Nasr of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, Amr Osama, Fouad’s climate change advisor, Rashad Allahverdiyev of the COP29 Presidency, and Thomas Anker Christensen, Denmark’s climate envoy.
OP29 climate will start in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November 2024.
In Solidarity for a Green World, “Being elected by unanimous decision as the host country for COP29 is really a big honour for us. We consider it as a sign of respect from the international community to Azerbaijan and what we are doing, in particular, in the area of green energy”, said Ilham Aliyev.
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan has vowed to make COP29 a success.
Azerbaijan during the COP29 Presidency will listening to ideas on climate crisis, and engage with a broad range of international stakeholders. “It is working to ensure everyone’s voices are heard and perspectives are considered and included so that we deliver inclusive outcomes based on shared solutions. We are optimistic that together we can make real progress”, said officials.
Also, during COP29 Presidency, Azerbaijan climate action plan includes two pillars. The first pillar — to “enhance ambition” — combines key elements to ensure all parties commit to ambitious national plans and transparency. The second pillar — to “enable action” — reflects the critical role of finance, a key tool to turn ambition into action and reduce emissions, adapt to climate change and address loss and damage.
Regarding Azerbaijan’s Green Energy Transition Initiatives, officials stated “Azerbaijan is committed to developing its renewable energy potential, which is an important part of the country’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2050.
Additionally, Azerbaijan intends to increase renewable power capacity to 30% by 2030 and diversify its existing energy system to become a leader in green energy. Azerbaijan is committed to leading by example and will update its national targets in its next 1.5-aligned Nationally Determined Contribution.
The previous United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) was hosted by the United Arab Emirates, which hosted COP28,
