(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 14. As
part of COP29 in Baku, Trend News Agency proudly presents COP for
Hope, a special project offering an unparalleled platform to hear
from world leaders and trailblazers in politics, economics,
science, and ecology, all united by a shared commitment to
addressing today's pressing climate challenges.
Today, we are honored to speak with Yingming Yang,
ADB Vice-President for South, Central and West
Asia.
In an exclusive interview with Trend , he pointed out that as the climate bank
for Asia and the Pacific, ADB would first like to highlight that
concrete actions need to be taken to address the climate
crisis.
“There is no Planet B. Our region is already experiencing its
impact, with many of our client countries among the most
vulnerable. We are glad that COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev has
consistently expressed that the objective of the summit is to
“enhance ambition and enable global climate action”,” Yang
added.
The ADB Vice-President said that some of the key ambitions of
COP 29 are related to (i) negotiations and agreement on Climate
Finance or the New Collective Quantified (financing) Goal (NCQG),
(ii) final agreement on the methods for trading carbon credits
under Article 6 (of the 2015 Paris Agreement) and the
revitalization of Carbon markets (iii) Establishing goals and
targets for transitioning away from fossil fuels (iv) the growth of
the Loss and Damage fund.
These are not easy issues. Article 6 has taken 10 years to
negotiate. We are very hopeful that under the leadership of
Azerbaijan, meaningful progress will be made at the COP Summit,
with clear plans of actions for 2025 and beyond, which ADB will
continue to support. On climate finance specifically, in order to
achieve tangible results, negotiators should remain focused on
attracting needs-based financing i.e. financing that suits the
needs of countries,” said Yang.
He believes that it is also critical to establish transparency
and accountability mechanisms to ensure finance is used effectively
by the intended beneficiaries.
“This also helps build trust and mobilize additional climate
finance. ADB has recently launched a flagship report - The
Asia–Pacific Climate Report: Catalyzing Finance and Policy
Solutions. This report is a tool for policy makers to understand
how to finance adaptation needs, and how to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions at the lowest cost,” noted the ADB Vice-President.
ADB's support to Azerbaijan's COP29
presidency
Yang said ADB appreciates Azerbaijan's steadfast efforts in
addressing climate change, and for the Government of Azerbaijan's
leadership in taking on the COP29 Presidency with its vision to
enhance ambition and enable action for the conference.
“I understand that government is actively working on making
COP29 an excellent success for climate action and Azerbaijan. As
the climate bank for Asia and the Pacific region, ADB has been
proud to support the COP29 Presidency in both the negotiations
track and Action Agenda and we are committed to continue providing
end-to-end support to the COP Presidency. We are doing this through
technical assistance which includes capacity building, advice, and
knowledge support on the core issues for COP29,” said ADB's
Vice-President.
He recalled that since May 2024, ADB experts have been
supporting the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources (MENR) in
preparing the first National Biennial Transparency Report (BTR) for
Azerbaijan required under the Paris Agreement.
“ADB experts organized a workshop and provided hands-on support
to carry out detailed data collection and validation of the
Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory report and National Inventory
Document (NID). We have been closely supporting the Article 6
negotiations team of the COP29 Presidency. Workshops have been
organized for MENR and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) to enable
them in navigating international negotiations to be undertaken in
run up to and at COP29 to fully operationalize Article 6 of the
Paris Agreement,” said the VP.
He went on to add that ADB is also working closely with the
COP29 Presidency on several Action Agenda initiatives across
various sectors, including Just transition, Urban, and Human
development, such as Education, Health and Green skills.
“ADB has worked closely with the COP29 Presidency on developing
the Baku Principles on Human development for Climate Resilience.
ADB will also be launching a number of our own initiatives during
COP29 in alignment with COP29 Presidency's Action Agenda, including
a Climate and Education Playbook and ADB Climate & Health portal.
ADB-led initiatives on just transition, NDC 3.0, Article 6, Energy
Transition Mechanism (ETM), Nature Solution Finance Hub for Asia
and the Pacific, Community Resilience Partnership Program, Climate
and Health Initiative will be showcased at COP29,” he said.
Plans for signing documents at COP29
There are a number of initiatives that ADB will launch and
agreements that ADB will sign, announced Yang.
“These include the launch of the CAREC Climate Change Action
Plan (2024-2027). The CAREC Secretariat, hosted by ADB, has engaged
closely on the COP29 Baku Initiative for Climate Finance,
Investment and Trade. The CAREC Partnership co-hosted by
Azerbaijan's Ministry of Economy and ADB will take place on Finance
Day (Nov 14th). The Climate Change Action Plan was presented for
endorsement at the 23rd CAREC Ministerial Conference on 8 November
in Astana, Kazakhstan Climate Change Action Plan (CCCAP) implements
key steps and recommendations identified by the CAREC Climate
Change Vision.
The Action Plan, covering 2024-2027, seeks to prioritize
regional climate adaptation and mitigation projects and initiatives
across CAREC clusters and strengthen coordination among development
partners to increase and optimize resources in support to regional
climate actions,” the VP explained.
Second, as Yang said, ADB and the Green Climate Fund will launch
a Glaciers Study, with the support of a number of countries
including the Government of Azerbaijan ADB, in close coordination
with Central West countries, prepared a regional proposal on
Glaciers to Farms (G2F) for Green Climate Fund (GCF) Board
consideration in 2025.
“The proposal covers water, agriculture, and social sectors and
aims to access GCF's financing for adaptation and resilience for
the region, including Azerbaijan. Intervention areas include
landscape management, reservoir development, mountain cities
resilience, climate information, technology and digitalization,
social protection, and infrastructure. GCF support for a glaciers
study under the Project Preparatory Facility (PPF) is planned to be
launched by ADB and GCF with Central West Asia DMCs, including
Azerbaijan, at COP29,” he said.
The VP noted that ADB is also signing financing agreements with
the private sector for 2 Solar projects at COP29.
“This year, ADB has approved $131.5 million additional financing
for Azerbaijan's Railway Sector Development Program, alongside $47
million for Azerbaijan Railways Digital Transformation project. We
hope these will be signed during COP 29 or soon after,” he
added.
ADB support for green energy corridors
Yang pointed out that ADB supports the Caspian Sea Green
Corridor Project through its Technical Assistance under the Central
Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program: The Caspian Sea
Green Energy Corridor Project.
“The project aims to support the initial phase by:
⁃ Enhancing regional dialogue and cooperation to create the
Caspian Sea Green Energy Corridor through facilitated meetings and
workshops, streamlining decision-making among stakeholders, and
improving coordination and communication among member
countries;
⁃ Supporting the establishment of legal and commercial
frameworks for the corridor through guidance and review of
documents by international and national legal consultants;
⁃ Conducting high-level technical assessments and feasibility
studies through owner's engineering services provided by
international consultants. This major initiative will promote the
region's energy security, sustainability, and economic development,
creating a green corridor for renewable energy transmission from
the Caspian region to Europe,” he concluded.
Follow the author on X: @Lyaman_Zeyn
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