It is necessary to provide financial assistance to developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Deputy Energy Minister of Azerbaijan Elnur Soltanov (a member of the COP29 chairmanship board) said. He made the statement during the event titled "Climate Dialogues: The Road to COP29".
He stated industrialized countries used 80 percent of the carbon budget (high carbon dioxide emissions) but are now considering cutting greenhouse gas emissions to minimize environmental damage.
"But developing countries don't have the same opportunities as developed countries, there is no financial capacity for climate action, they need to be given financial assistance. This will be one of the issues discussed in Azerbaijan at COP29. Holding COP29 in Azerbaijan places a great responsibility on the country, and it is impossible to imagine that there will be another such opportunity in the next century," Soltanov emphasized.
He also mentioned that one of the Azerbaijani government's commitments is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 40 percent under the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).
"In general, the solution to climate problems should not be realized through the damage of normal life activity, and we should try to achieve this by applying economic and social development models," Soltanov added.
He said the country needs to solve the problem of methane emissions and all kinds of waste and try to recycle waste to produce electricity or useful products from it.
To note, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) will be held in Azerbaijan in November this year. The decision was made at the plenary session of COP28 held in Dubai on December 11 last year. Within two weeks Baku, having become the center of the world, will host about 70,000–80,000 foreign guests.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference in the climate system. The acronym COP (Conference of Parties) stands for Conference of Parties, which is the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Meanwhile, 198 countries are parties to the convention. Unless the parties decide otherwise, COP is held annually. The first COP event was held in March 1995 in Germany's Berlin, and its secretariat is based in Bonn.