Caspian Energy (CE): Mr. Soltanov, what are the priority issues on the agenda for COP29? What new commitments on carbon emissions do you anticipate might be made?
Elnur Soltanov, Chief Executive Officer of COP29 Azerbaijan: COP29 will be a litmus test for the Paris Agreement and global climate action. The vision for COP29 is to fulfil past promises and deliver on the outcomes of the Global Stocktake agreed at COP28 to keep 1.5C within reach.
We need to make significant progress across all pillars of the Paris Agreement, with climate finance at the very centre. The COP29 Presidency’s top negotiating priority is to agree a fair and ambitious New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance, taking into account the needs and priorities of developing country Parties.
Our efforts on climate finance must include the full scope and potential of the resources that need to be made available. And our work should represent progression beyond previous efforts, delivering multiples adequate to the scale and urgency of the problem.
But this is not just our priority. The COP29 Presidency has heard the voices of so many Parties and communities that are counting on all of us to take this step at COP29.
Adopting the NCQG will be a pivotal moment for whether Parties can make progress on the means of implementation and support, and the Paris Agreement more broadly. This will be the first major finance goal after the Paris Agreement and we are sparing no effort to support the Parties to reach consensus.
Throughout our communications and engagements with Parties we have been forthright about our expectations and the role we must each play to deliver solutions. This is because the stakes could not be higher: climate change is not a future risk, it is a real and present danger to billions of people around the world.
CE: Azerbaijan is a party to the world’s many discussion platforms, such as Davos, SCO, the Security Conference and others, but climate and environmental issues are not currently regarded as major points of their respective agendas. Do you think this policy is in need of reconsideration in order to achieve substantial, concrete results at climate summits?
Elnur Soltanov: In fact, climate has become a central issue for many significant international platforms. Climate change has important implications for global development and security - and conflict has its own consequences for the climate.
We are working to bring global attention to this interconnectedness through the inclusion of a COP Truce in the COP29 Presidency’s action agenda. This appeal for a global ceasefire for the COP period is intended to promote the global peace agenda while also reducing emissions from military activities.
COP29 will be held in November in Baku, but the work to achieve our goals does not wait until then. The COP29 Presidency has been engaged throughout the year at major multinational engagements like the IMF World Bank Spring Meetings, the Munich Security Conference, and the G7 – and we were in attendance at the UN General Assembly in September.
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