BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 25. Minister of Finance of the Republic of Azerbaijan Samir Sharifov participated in high-level events and meetings focused on climate financing during the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Washington, USA, alongside a delegation from COP29 led by Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan, COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev, Trend reports via Ministry of Finance.
The ministry reported that the IMF hosted an event on October 22 under the title "International Sustainable Financial Architecture: Maintaining Momentum and Ambition to Achieve Results between COPs". Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Brazil jointly organized the gathering to explore opportunities for increasing climate finance.
“Speaking at the opening of the event, which featured the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Simon Steele and IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, Finance Minister Samir Sharifov emphasized the urgent need for a fair and ambitious new collective quantitative goal for climate finance (NCQG) by the end of this year. He stressed that this goal must address the needs of developing countries in their fight against climate change. Sharifov urged G20 finance ministers to collaborate on the NCQG and highlighted the necessity of expanding the resource base of multilateral development banks for climate financing.
During the annual meeting, Sharifov also participated in discussions with the COP29 delegation, including meetings with Kristalina Georgieva, Asai Banga, the President of the World Bank Group, Masatsugu Asakawa, the President of the Asian Development Bank, and Axel von Trotsenburg, the Director General for Development and Cooperation of the World Bank Group. They addressed COP29's expectations from international financial institutions and explored opportunities to enhance climate finance. Additionally, Sharifov participated in the twelfth meeting of the Coalition of Finance Ministers on Climate Action, where Azerbaijan is a member this year, and contributed to the presentation of the Brazilian Investment Platform for Climate and Environmental Transition (BIP).
Sharifov also attended a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council, organized within the annual IMF and World Bank meetings, which included finance ministers and central bank governors from the Caucasus and Central Asia. The discussions focused on the current state of trade and financial flows between the two regions, the challenges impeding cooperation, and potential solutions. In his address, Sharifov identified opportunities to enhance collaboration in trade and investment, underscoring the importance of fostering mutual investment and facilitating the free movement of labor while also advocating for a balanced, "soft" energy transition and the adoption of innovative financial instruments.
During his visit to Washington, Sharifov held bilateral meetings with Serhat Koksal, President of the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank; Lyudmila Petkova, Bulgaria’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance; and IMF Managing Director Marcel Peter along with Deputy Patrick Loshevsky, where they discussed avenues for cooperation," the ministry statement said.
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