BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 15. As part of COP29 in Baku, Trend News Agency proudly presents COP for Hope, a special project offering an unparalleled platform to hear from world leaders and trailblazers in politics, economics, science, and ecology, all united by a shared commitment to addressing today’s pressing climate challenges.
Today, we are honored to speak with Minister of Ecology, Environmental Protection, and Climate Change of Uzbekistan, Aziz Abdukhakimov.
In an exclusive interview with Trend, Abdukhakimov pointed out that on the sidelines of COP29, the Uzbekistan delegation is actively negotiating with partners, including Azerbaijani colleagues.
"Participation of such a significant number of representatives, including major financial institutions and organizations, provides an opportunity for all those present here to achieve their goals in the fight against climate change," he said.
Amid these discussions, an agreement was signed to implement the project "From Glaciers to Farmers" aimed at sustainable agriculture, water resource management, and pasture management. This project is particularly relevant for Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and other Central Asian countries. The minister emphasized that participation in this project opens up opportunities for knowledge exchange and the implementation of new technologies.
"One important aspect of cooperation is the development of environmental education. We recently held an 'ecocamp', which also involved children from Azerbaijan. We hope that our Azerbaijani friends will also participate in the 'green university' project—the Central Asian University for Environmental Studies and Climate Change. Uzbekistan has allocated grants and scholarships for students from Azerbaijan, expecting the participation of their Azerbaijani partners in this educational project," he noted.
The minister also spoke about Uzbekistan's 'green' university.
"We want to invite our colleagues, climate change and environmental protection experts from Azerbaijan, as well as those involved in the development of environmental pollution monitoring systems, to our climate residence, which has been established at our 'green' university. Scientists from various countries will be able to exchange knowledge and experiences there, conduct joint experiments, and develop common approaches to solving our environmental problems," Abdukhakimov added.
The 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) opened on November 11. COP29, which is being held at the Baku Olympic Stadium, will continue until November 22. It is the largest event organized by Azerbaijan to date, and the first time in the region that it is being held in Azerbaijan.
The key expectation from COP29 is to agree on a fair and ambitious New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance.
A total of 14 initiatives have been put forward by the COP29 Chairmanship.
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