Mukhtar Babayev: ‘We believe Armenian delegation will participate in COP29'

“We believe that the Armenian delegation will come to Azerbaijan and participate in the upcoming COP29," Mukhtar Babayev, the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan and COP29 President-Designate told Report.

Speaking about the activities of the COP29 team during the 79th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 79) in New York, Minister Babayev highlighted Azerbaijan's strong presence at the event. "We have prepared an extensive program and were able to participate in relevant events at the UN, as well as many high-level summits," he stated.

The minister revealed that Azerbaijan has a dedicated COP29 program, with a large delegation covering all aspects of the conference. "We had good opportunities to convey our 14 initiatives on the COP29 agenda to the public and countries worldwide. We presented several platforms and organized their review and discussions," Babayev added.

Babayev noted that announcements were made regarding major initiatives, particularly in the areas of energy and transparency, while work continues on several others.

He added that there is great interest in COP29: "Guests from many countries will come to Azerbaijan and many countries have already confirmed their participation in COP29. We had the opportunity to meet with the heads of state, government representatives and heads of delegations. They said that they are looking forward to Azerbaijan's Presidency and expressed support for successful action plans. Of course, each of them has high expectations from Azerbaijan."

According to the minister, there will be opportunities to reach agreements in several important areas.

"We are working with all parties to ensure maximum inclusivity. Our goal is to facilitate the arrival of all countries and the negotiation process participants to Azerbaijan,” the minister stressed.

Babayev emphasized that Azerbaijan’s initiatives have been well-received by the COP community. He stated that various advanced UN agencies participated in all aspects of preparing the initiatives for the COP29 agenda.

“They also helped us finalize these initiatives. For example, the COP Truce and our other initiatives were met with great interest and discussed. Announcements are already available on our official website, and they are part of our country’s presentation. There are 46 days left until COP29," COP29 President highlighted.

The minister said that the negotiations are very tense. "Because the positions of the countries and parties sometimes differ and clash. We have very little time left to bring them closer together. Therefore, our negotiating teams are discussing these issues with those countries and working to bring their positions closer together.”

Regarding Armenia's participation, Minister Babayev confirmed that no meetings were held with the Armenian delegation during the week: “No meeting with Armenia is planned within the framework of this visit, but we have invited them to the COP. Traditionally, all countries participate in the COP, and we believe that the Armenian delegation will come to Azerbaijan and participate in COP29.”