US values Azerbaijan's presidency of COP29, says John Podesta

The United States appreciates Azerbaijan's presidency of the upcoming COP29 climate conference. President Ilham Aliyev has appointed a strong team led by Minister of Ecology Babayev and Deputy Foreign Minister Rafiyev, with whom the US team has established excellent working relationships, according to John Podesta, Special Advisor to the US President on International Climate Policy.

According to Report, speaking at a briefing for Azerbaijani journalists, Podesta emphasized that the priorities have been aligned since Azerbaijan agreed to host COP29 less than a year ago.

He reported that he was received by the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev.

"We exchanged views on a number of issues, including preparations for the successful holding of COP29, as well as ongoing efforts to conclude a lasting and dignified peace agreement with Armenia," said the ambassador.

According to him, COP29 is taking place at a critical stage in a critical decade, when the consequences of climate change are being observed around the world.

"The climate impacts we're seeing around the world made clear we need to do more to enhance our action to both reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare and accelerate our investments in resilience and adaptation," he said adding that

"They have clearly shown that more needs to be done to strengthen actions both to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to accelerate investments in resilience and adaptation," he said, adding that ongoing natural disasters in the world and their consequences are putting pressure on the global community to move forward and ultimately do everything possible to make COP29 successful and to provide the necessary resources, especially for developing countries, which is a key priority of this conference.