BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 21. COP29 in Baku and COP30 in Belem are key events to advance the water agenda, Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Dmitry Maryasin said at the high-level launch event “Celebrating Water’s Lifeline for Climate, Nature, and People," Trend reports.
“A sustainable water supply is the foundation for a sustainable future. Climate change is increasingly impacting water resources, as we see with the devastating floods in Spain, the Sahel, and the Americas. Water must certainly remain at the heart of global climate negotiations, and the role of transboundary water bodies must be fully recognized.
COP29 in Baku and COP30 in Belem are key events to advance this agenda. I congratulate Azerbaijan on the initiative that raised the importance of water in climate issues, which is reflected in the Baku Declaration on Water for Climate and the Baku Dialogue,” he said.
According to him, UNECE is happy to cooperate with Azerbaijan and other partners in this process.
“We urge all countries to support the declaration. We would like to pay special attention to transboundary cooperation, which is an important part of the water agenda. 60 percent of the world's freshwater resources are shared, which requires effective cooperation between countries for adaptation and mitigation of climate change,” said Maryasin.
To note, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which will run until November 22, opened at the Baku Olympic Stadium on November 11. It is the largest event organized by Azerbaijan to date, and the first time in the region that it is being held in Azerbaijan.
Within COP29, the highest-level event - the summit of world leaders on climate action - was held on November 12–13.
The main expectation from COP29 is to agree on a fair and ambitious New Collective Quantitative Goal (NCQG) on climate finance. The COP29 Presidency has launched 14 initiatives that include linkages between climate action and the Sustainable Development Goals, including green energy corridors, green energy storage, harmony for climate resilience, clean hydrogen, methane reduction in organic waste, action on green digital technologies, and other topics.
In addition to being a top priority that creates the conditions for action, creating climate finance will also help fulfill the 1.5°C pledge by bringing everyone together.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Rio Earth Summit in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference in the climate system. The acronym COP (Conference of Parties) stands for “Conference of Parties” and is the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change.
A total of 198 countries are parties to the Convention. Unless otherwise decided by the parties, COP is held annually. The first COP event was held in March 1995 in Berlin, and its secretariat is located in Bonn.
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