Azerbaijan’s COP29 presidency has launched the "Baku to Belém Roadmap" to chart a path toward mobilizing $1.3 trillion annually in climate finance by 2035, said Mukhtar Babayev, President of COP29 and Special Representative of the President of Azerbaijan on climate issues.
According to Report, speaking at the high-level consultations led by successive COP presidencies under the theme "Baku to Belém Roadmap to $1.3 Trillion", Babayev stressed that the agreement reached during COP29 in Baku was a historic breakthrough.
In the final moments of COP29 in Baku, a long-awaited financial agreement was achieved — tripling the previous goal, Babayev said, adding that countries pledged to mobilize at least $300 billion annually for the developing world by 2035. He emphasized that this represents the largest financial target ever adopted in the UN climate process.
Babayev underlined the importance of remembering the roots of the climate process before entering discussions: "Since the earliest days of the UNFCCC, we have recognized the importance of mutual support. The Paris Agreement highlighted that enhanced support for developing countries enables more ambitious climate action."
According to Babayev, hundreds of billions of dollars have been mobilized within the framework of the UNFCCC for the developing world; however, the scale and urgency of the task required more — it was necessary to agree on a new climate finance target to support the developing world in the second decade after the Paris Agreement.
"This has never been an easy task. We sought to take the next logical steps, building on the successes of COP28, COP27, and all previous conferences. The COP29 presidency made it clear that it was necessary to move forward," he emphasized.
Babayev stressed that the agreement also set an ambitious goal to increase climate finance to at least $1.3 trillion per year by 2035. "We have reached a historic turning point, turning billions into trillions. This is a powerful signal to financial markets, providing greater certainty for long-term planning, strengthening trust, and giving momentum to collective action, as well as setting a benchmark by which we will all be held accountable," Babayev said.
Alongside other achievements of the Baku Climate Unity Pact, this was a historic result that opened a new era in climate finance, said the president's representative. "We understand that the target did not satisfy everyone in every respect. It was difficult — difficult times require difficult decisions. But it was critically important to move forward," he added.
According to Babayev, the COP29 presidium sought the highest possible level of ambition for increasing climate finance for developing countries. "We also launched the 'Baku to Belém Roadmap' to determine how we can achieve at least $1.3 trillion per year by 2035. This is a non-negotiable document spanning several presidencies, but we understand that it is important to many of you. Therefore, we opened this process to everyone and now want to create a roadmap that will be clear, reliable, feasible, and useful for all," he said.
The COP29 president highlighted two main conditions for achieving the set goals. First, this mission will undoubtedly require action both from UNFCCC participants and from external organizations — stakeholders.
Second, the COP29 presidency understands that concessional and grant-based public financing is the foundation of the Baku financial goal. While expressing gratitude to donors for their willingness to discuss their obligations under Article 9, it will demand that they fulfill their promises.
"The Azerbaijani presidency will remain active to keep climate action on the global agenda and is fully determined to ensure that all promises made at COP29 are fulfilled. After Baku, we have entered a new era of climate finance — an era defined not by our words, but by our actions. We eagerly look forward to everyone stepping up their efforts, and we look forward to the contribution of each to the 'Baku to Belém Roadmap,'" he concluded.