The COP29 Presidency and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) jointly organized an event dedicated to the interconnection between climate change and global peace at the federation's headquarters in Geneva, Report informs.
The event was attended by representatives from UN agencies, international humanitarian organizations, and permanent missions of UN member states.
In his opening speech, Jagan Chapagain, Secretary General of the IFRC, expressed gratitude to Azerbaijan for drawing attention to the link between climate change and peace and highly appreciated the COP29 Presidency's efforts in this direction.
Elshad Iskandarov, Senior Adviser to COP29 Presidency and Ambassador-at-large of Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry, provided detailed information about the planned Peace, Aid, and Restoration Day within the framework of COP29. He emphasized that water scarcity, food insecurity, land degradation, and increasing migration resulting from climate change pose serious risks to international peace and security, affecting over 500 million people worldwide.
"Only 2% of climate finance is spent on addressing these problems, which makes the least developed countries suffer from hunger, conflict, and diseases for many years to come. Developed countries should be concerned about these real disasters, not artificially politicized issues, and practical steps should be determined in this direction. As the COP29 host, Azerbaijan is determined to serve true peace through the initiatives it puts forward," Iskandarov highlighted.
During the event, the concept of the Baku Center for Climate and Peace Action, an initiative of the COP29 Presidency, and the initial draft of the Baku Peace Call for Climate, which contains practical proposals in this field, were presented to the participants.
Galib Israfilov, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to the UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva, highlighted the factors contributing to the strengthening of international peace through the initiatives of Azerbaijan's COP29 Presidency.
During the discussions at the event, which was attended by representatives from 42 countries and 12 international organizations, the agenda presented by the COP29 Presidency on the topic of climate and peace was highly appreciated, and the numerous questions from the participants were comprehensively answered.