Yalchin Rafiyev: COP29 recognized as one of most significant, historical climate conferences

COP29 has become one of the most important and historic climate conferences due to the results achieved, Yalchin Rafiyev, Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Chief Negotiator of COP29 said during the 30th Anniversary Baku Energy Forum, as quoted by Report.

“We have the right to say this, given the context in which COP29 was held - both geopolitical difficulties and the challenges of the negotiation process itself. Last year, elections were held in more than 60 countries, and in some cases they led to significant political changes. Some governments that came to power took a different, and sometimes radically different, position on climate change and the fight against its consequences,” Yalchin Rafiyev noted.

According to him, these factors significantly complicated the negotiations and the achievement of consensus between the parties.

“It is also important to understand the institutional structure of the COP process. There are three key areas within the Paris Agreement: mitigation, adaptation and finance. Each COP conference focuses primarily on one of these areas on a rotating basis. Baku was expected to make a breakthrough in climate finance,” he emphasized.

According to him, finance is coming to the forefront: both technological solutions and capacity-building measures are needed so that countries can implement their climate commitments and ambitions.