BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 17. The COP29
Presidency today announced the COP29 Presidency Initiatives as part
of its “Action Agenda” to accelerate progress on climate action and
supplement the formal negotiated COP agenda. In a letter addressed
to all Parties and non-party stakeholders, the COP29
President-Designate Mukhtar Babayev set out the details of the
package and how global stakeholders can contribute to the COP29
Presidency’s vision to enhance ambition and enable action.
The Action Agenda confronts the world’s most pressing climate
problems, shines a light on forgotten priorities, and provides a
focus for wide universe of actors to come together. It also
reflects Azerbaijan’s own capabilities and unique contributions to
the fight against climate change, as COP is held in the Caucuses
for the first time. It represents an ambitious effort by the COP29
Presidency to drive action across all climate pillars and covers a
range of key priorities, such as energy, finance, agriculture,
cities, human development, and the climate-peace nexus, amongst
others. Many of these initiatives, in particular, the Baku
Initiative on Climate Finance, Investment and Trade (BICFIT), the
Baku Initiative on Human Development for Climate Resilience, and
the Multisectoral Actions Pathways (MAP) for Resilient and Healthy
Cities all integrate and address cross-sectoral synergies.
In the COP29 pledges and declarations, governments and
non-governmental entities will come together to agree on the
principles and pathways for how they will enhance ambition in their
next collective steps to confront the climate crisis. The COP29
Presidency will share the drafts texts with all parties and
constituencies for their review and feedback as a sign of its
transparent and inclusive approach. The COP29 Presidency will then
finalise the texts and republish them on the COP29 website in due
course.
Through the launch of these Initiatives, the COP29 Presidency is
establishing a range of platforms, partnerships and programmes to
enable action before, during and after COP29. Finance, as a
critical enabler of climate action, is a centrepiece of the COP29
Presidency’s vision, so the Initiatives have been designed with a
special emphasis on delivering the means of implementation.
The COP29 Action Agenda has been developed in collaboration with
the COP29 Presidency’s partners across the globe, including the UN
Task Force for COP29 and its member agencies, international
organisations and multilateral bodies, national governments and
non-state actors.
Launching the COP29 Action Agenda, Mr. Babayev said “Azerbaijan is
honoured by the confidence that the global community has placed in
us to host COP29. But we are just one country and we cannot solve
the climate crisis alone. We seek to inspire every actor and
demonstrate what is possible with commitment and determination, and
we never underestimate the value of an individual contribution. We
hope to remind everyone that even in the face of such an enormous
challenge, every action matters because every fraction of a degree
matters.”
COP29 UN High-Level Climate Champion Nigar Arpadarai said “Now is
the time for the whole universe of climate stakeholders to sign up,
speak up and step up on climate action. If we are to meet our
goals, we need everyone to do their part. This is your chance to
play an important role in COP29.”
Summary of the COP29 Presidency Initiatives and
Outcomes
Climate Finance Action Fund (CFAF): A fund, capitalised
with voluntary contributions from fossil fuel producing countries
and companies, to catalyse the public and private sectors across
mitigation, adaptation, and research and development. The Fund will
also have special facilities for highly concessional and
grant-based funding to rapidly address the consequences of natural
disasters in the developing countries in need.
The Baku Initiative for Climate Finance, Investment and
Trade (BICFIT): An initiative to focus on the nexus of
climate finance, investment and trade, with a platform to promote
investment into green diversification, support policy development,
and share expertise through dialogue.
COP29 Green Energy Zones and Corridors Pledge: A
pledge to commit to green energy zones and corridors, including
targets to promote investment, stimulate economic growth, develop,
modernise and expand infrastructure, and foster regional
cooperation.
COP29 Global Energy Storage and Grids Pledge: A
pledge with a target to increase global energy storage capacity six
times above 2022 levels, reaching 1,500 gigawatts by 2030. To
enhance energy grids, endorsers will also commit to considerably
scaling up investments in grids as part of global efforts to add or
refurbish more than 80 million kilometres by 2040.
COP29 Hydrogen Declaration: A declaration for both
the public and private sectors to unlock the potential of a global
market for [clean] hydrogen and its derivatives with guiding
principles and priorities, to address regulatory, technological,
financing, and standardization barriers.
COP Truce Appeal: An appeal for a COP Truce,
modelled on the Olympic Truce, to highlight the importance of peace
and climate action. The COP29 Peace and Climate Initiative is a
separate initiative, co-led with partners, that envisages to
deliver tangible outcomes such as establishing a centre of
excellence hub to match the needs of the most vulnerable with
existing resources and foster further action for the
operationalisation of various initiatives on the peace and climate
nexus.
COP29 Green Digital Action Declaration: A
declaration to accelerate climate-positive digitalisation and
emission reductions in the Information and Communication Technology
sector and enhance accessibility of green digital technologies.
The Baku Initiative on Human Development for Climate
Resilience: An initiative to deliver various outcomes on
human development, including catalysing investment in education,
skills, health, and well-being, in particular for children and
youth, establishing COP-to-COP continuity, and enhancing
environmental literacy through education standards.
The Baku Harmoniya Climate Initiative for Farmers:
An aggregator bringing together initiatives, coalitions and
networks to share experiences, identify synergies and gaps,
facilitate finance, and foster collaboration on agriculture,
including by empowering communities and women in rural areas.
COP29 Declaration on Reducing Methane from Organic
Waste: A declaration to work towards 1.5-aligned waste
sector commitments in NDCs with quantified targets to reduce
methane in waste and food systems.
COP29 Multisectoral Actions Pathways (MAP) Declaration for
Resilient and Healthy Cities: A declaration to enhance
multisectoral cooperation to address climate challenges in cities
and an initiative to create coherence in all urban climate efforts
and catalyse urban climate finance.
COP29 Declaration on Enhanced Action in Tourism: A
declaration to include sectoral targets for tourism in NDCs and
promote sustainable practices by reducing emissions and increasing
resilience in the sector. A further initiative with outcomes to
enhance transparency in the sector and provide frameworks for
sustainable food systems in tourism.
COP29 Declaration on Water for Climate Action: A
declaration calling upon stakeholders to take integrated approaches
to combat the causes and impacts of climate change on water basins
and water-related ecosystems, integrate water-related mitigation
and adaptation measures in national climate policies, including
NDCs and NAPS. The declaration will launch the Baku Dialogue on
Water for Climate Action to enhance COP-to-COP continuity and
coherence.
The Baku Global Climate Transparency Platform
(BTP): A platform to support developing country Parties in
the preparation and submission of Biennial Transparency Reports,
promote collaboration and knowledge exchange amongst all Parties on
the full spectrum of the Enhanced Transparency Framework, and
better mobilize capacity-building resources where they are
needed.
The full COP29 Presidency’s Letter to Parties and Constituencies on
the Action Agenda is available on this
link
COP29 Presidency rolls out initiatives to accelerate climate efforts
