"Preparations are being conducted mainly in 4 directions," Deputy Minister of Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Chief Executive Officer of COP29 Azerbaijan Elnur Soltanov told APA.
He stated that the first direction is the "Negotiation process and action agenda": "The second direction is for Azerbaijan to be an example on the topic it leads. The third is communicating all these topics to both domestic and international audiences. The fourth direction is logistics. These areas are interconnected, each is important, and they are being implemented in parallel."
Elnur Soltanov also noted that the main goal of all COPs is to achieve outcomes from the negotiation process:
"The essence of COP – the Conference of the Parties – consists of this. COPs are the supreme decision-making bodies for implementing all three climate agreements, whether it’s the 1992 Climate Framework Convention, the Kyoto Protocol, or the Paris Agreement. Azerbaijan's role in this process is to create a transparent, inclusive, and neutral environment for the parties. At the heart of the negotiation process is the issue of climate finance. "Article Six" of the Paris Agreement is another important issue that's going to be decided.
The second part of the first direction we mentioned is the "COP Presidency's Action Agenda." Here, we have our 14+2+2 initiative. These consist of Azerbaijan's own initiatives on almost all important climate-related issues including issues such as finance, green energy, the waste sector, water, private sector engagement, and awareness-raising. Because the first part - negotiation topics, are assigned to the host country by the UN Climate Change Secretariat and are not our initiatives. However, Azerbaijan defines the "Action Agenda."
With these initiatives, we are trying to ensure Azerbaijan's legacy in the field of climate solutions. The most effective way to ensure this is to contribute to solving the world's climate problem. At the same time, defining of this 14+2+2 initiative was put forward with the aim of giving impetus to the negotiation process.
The topic of "Exemplary Country": is the answer to the - Are you demonstrating exemplary behavior to the extent of leading others? - question. Azerbaijan has moments in this area which we can set an example to the whole world, urging the world to follow our path.
Increasing the efficiency of our country's largest power plant by 30 percent with the reconstruction of the Mingachevir Hydroelectric Power Plant, the construction of 2 GW renewable energy plants in the next few years, the Green Energy Zone in the liberated territories, and green corridors in the directions of Europe and Central Asia are some of these. The fact that the vast majority of these projects were initiated before the COP29 presidency increases the credibility of our steps in this area.
The third theme, communication, is directed towards both the internal and external environment. The participation and development of the Azerbaijani people, our specialists, our youth, representatives of the public and private sectors, and our women in this process will ultimately be one of our greatest gains and goals.
But at the same time, communication with the international environment aims to direct all this work towards a strategic goal.
Regarding the fourth logistics issue, I think that one year is probably enough for the three directions I listed above. But implementing logistics in less than a year is a very difficult task. But Azerbaijan is performing excellently in this area. Azerbaijan has achieved its targets in all those four areas so far and we are confident that we will see the fruits of all these preparations at the November 11-22 conference, the final stage of the COP 29 process."
Follow us on Telegram
t.me/apanewsaz
Follow us on Instagram
Follow us on TikTok
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on X
