BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 16. Parliamentarians bear the responsibility for the fight against climate change, the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Tulia Ackson said at a parliamentary meeting within COP29 organized jointly by the IPU and Azerbaijani Parliament, Trend reports.
Sevil Mikayilova, the Vice President of the IPU from Azerbaijan and a member of the Azerbaijani parliament, is taking part in the event.
“Parliamentarians bear a significant responsibility for the fight against climate change, especially at the critical stage of climate action, connecting international agreements with their national implementation. With the power to draft and oversee legislation, we ensure that climate policies and laws are ambitious, practical, and enforceable.
We are in a unique position to monitor government action, allocate resources effectively, and mobilize public support, making climate action a priority at all levels. COP29 plays an important role by advancing the key areas needed to achieve our shared climate goals,” she said.
According to the IPU President, new commitments on climate finance, increased national ambition, and important steps on adaptation, loss, and damage are of particular importance.
“Building on the momentum of COP28, we are moving to realize these ambitions. The focus of this parliamentary meeting demonstrates the depth and complexity of the challenges we face, but we must be ready to take them on,” Ackson noted.
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 chairmanship 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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