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The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) headquarters in New York hosted an event within the High-Level Week of the UNGA79.
Report informs that the event was organized by the COP29 Presidency.
Attendees included Mukhtar Babayev, Azerbaijan's Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources and COP29 President-Designate, Leyla Hasanova, Youth Climate Champion for COP29 Azerbaijan, Kitty van der Heijden, the UNICEF Assistant Secretary-General, Daniele Violetti, Senior Director at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat, representatives of member states, and UNICEF youth ambassadors.
In his speech, Minister Babayev emphasized the importance of discussions on children and climate change. He noted that children are among the age groups most affected by the climate crisis: "Approximately half of the world's children live in countries that are at extremely high risk for the impacts of climate change. According to the World Health Organization, 88% of diseases caused by climate change affect children under the age of five."
The minister stated that climate finance for children and the creation of sustainable social infrastructure to protect them from the impacts of climate change are priority topics for Azerbaijan within the framework of COP29: "Fully operationalizing Article 6 of the Paris Agreement is one of the main priorities of our COP Presidency. We need sustainability to fulfill our obligations to future generations. As the COP29 chair, we are determined to bring parties together to make progress within the formal negotiation process of UNICEF. We understand the responsibility we have taken on for this."
"We must mobilize partners such as multilateral climate funds that can help address the lack of finance for children. Empowering youth on this topic will be considered as an element in all thematic days at COP29. During the high-level event on human development, we will specifically address children and youth. As part of the preparations for COP29, we look forward to hearing perspectives and solutions on how we can keep children at the center of the climate process and how we can work together to ensure outcomes that protect them from the impacts of climate change," he added.
UNICEF Assistant Secretary-General Kitty van der Heijden noted that for the first time in the organization's 30-year history, the specific and disproportionate impacts of climate change on children are being considered within a critical process and are on the agenda of COP29. She expressed confidence that the Azerbaijani government will host a successful COP in this regard.
At the event, UNICEF youth ambassadors from various countries, including Azerbaijan, shared their thoughts and opinions on the climate crises faced by children in their respective nations.
