This year Azerbaijan is hosting the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-29). This is the largest international event in the country's history. About 80,000 foreign guests will arrive at COP29, which will be held from November 11 to 22 at the Baku Stadium, and more than 50 heads of state and government have confirmed their participation in this large-scale event. The main expectation from COP29 is to agree a fair and ambitious New Collective Quantitative Goal (NCQG) for climate finance.

At the initiative of the COP29 chairmanship, 14 tracks have been put forward covering the linkages between climate action and the Sustainable Development Goals. These include green energy corridors, green energy storage, sustainable development in the face of climate change, clean hydrogen, reducing methane emissions in organic waste, green digital technologies and other topics. In addition, there are plans to establish a Climate Finance Action Fund. Establishing climate finance mechanisms is a top priority to bring the global community together and contribute to the goal of keeping global warming within 1.5°C.

Earlier, a member of the COP29 Organizing Committee, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan Anar Alakbarov said that 67,000 people have registered to participate in the event, and 85% of 17,500 hotel rooms have already been sold. Recall that 2024 was declared the “Year of Solidarity for a Green World” in the Republic of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 35% by 2030 and by 40% by 2050 compared to the baseline year of 1990.

The UN Climate Change Conferences remain the only international platform for centralized discussion of global climate change issues. They are held annually on a rotating basis in a country belonging to one of the five UN regional groupings (African, Asia-Pacific, Eastern European, Latin American and Caribbean, Western European and Other States). These events are formal sessions of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, and the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement. A final document is signed at the end of each conference.