Azerbaijan's COP29 Chairmanship Aims To Be Bridge Between Global North And South - Azerbaijani Minister Says In Guardian Op-Ed

(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 12. The British newspaper The Guardian has published an authored article by Mukhtar Babayev, president of the 29th session of the conference of the Parties to the UN Framework convention on Climate Change (COP29), Trend reports.

"Globally, the production of coal-fired power and the usage of electric vehicles both increased in 2023. Conflicts that disrupted the energy markets in Europe and the Middle East and increased demand for electricity both had an impact. It serves as a sobering reminder, meanwhile, that both a deliberate change in consumption and the generation of clean energy are necessary to fulfill promises to restrict global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius," the article says.

According to him, a step towards this can be taken precisely at COP29 in Azerbaijan.

"It is necessary to create a mechanism for transitioning from one COP agreement to the next. In order to guarantee that Azerbaijan will be the connection in decision-making and execution from leading the 28th summit in the United Arab Emirates to the 30th in Brazil next year, this began last month with the launch of the COP Trio of Chairs. Building a bridge between the industrialized and developing regions of the world is also crucial. Developing nations are producing more hydrocarbons as a result of industrialized nations' greater use of fossil fuels in the previous year. This increases the urgency of transferring green technologies and providing the promised financing for this, but which has not yet been received. This means that the primary goal of Azerbaijan's COP chairmanship should be to build a bridge between the disparate goals of the global North and global South," Mukhtar Babayev noted.

The president of COP29 emphasized that to reduce emissions in the energy sector, Azerbaijan has joined the "Global Methane Commitment".

"On terrain that has been cleaned of landmines, the foundational construction for one of the biggest solar power systems in the world started last month. Therefore, this project is a component of a larger, post-conflict reconstruction initiative. Through the proposed Caspian-Black Sea Green Energy Corridor, the economy will transition from exporting oil and gas to generating renewable energy and exporting it to our neighbors and the European Union. This will be accomplished through the development of solar and hydropower as well as the utilization of 157 GW of offshore wind power. The financial means exist for Azerbaijan to undertake this change. International investment, though, is also a major factor in this change. International climate finance will be considerably more critical to success elsewhere in the world. The commitments established in Dubai by governments, the private sector, and multilateral institutions to collaborate must be kept," the article says.

Mukhtar Babayev pointed out that Europe has demonstrated how rapidly an energy transition can be completed if there is political will over the past two years by diversifying the sources of natural gas supplies with Azerbaijan's assistance.

"This demonstrates how crucial it is for Azerbaijan to act as a bridge between the developed and developing regions of the world, as would any other nation that would accept COP29. Restoring this confidence is crucial because failing to do so could slow down rather than speed up efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Establishing a new aim for climate funding, which would be confirmed at the next two COPs and beyond by the troika mechanism, would help rebuild confidence. This ought to demonstrate the gravity and scope of the climate emergency and, more crucially, promptly disburse these monies to the nations most in need of them. There's one thing to know about Azerbaijan's presidency for those who don't think this can be accomplished with measures aimed at fostering confidence. In December, Azerbaijan and Armenia implemented concrete measures to foster mutual trust. In an act of goodwill, Armenia dropped its candidacy for the COP in favor of Azerbaijan's bid, while Azerbaijan supported Armenia's bid for the Eastern European Group COP Bureau," the article notes.

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