BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 16. Landlocked countries (LLDCs) need to strengthen international cooperation, increase funding, and expand infrastructure to overcome climate and economic challenges, COP29 Lead Negotiator and Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Yalchin Rafiyev, said at an event titled "Strengthening Climate Resilience and Sustainable Development in Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs): Challenges and Opportunities," Trend reports.
“Today we are convening key stakeholders to discuss how LLDCs can overcome their climate and economic challenges. Azerbaijan, like many LLDCs, faces challenges related to lack of direct access to ports, which entails economic constraints, high transport costs, delays in moving goods, and vulnerability to political and economic instability in transit countries,” he emphasized.
According to him, climate change poses additional threats to LLDCs, despite their minimal contribution to global emissions.
“LLDCs are particularly vulnerable to climate change. They face droughts, floods, glacier melt, and other disasters, but their institutional, technical, and financial capacities are limited. This prevents them from taking effective measures to adapt and respond to climate challenges,” Rafiyev added.
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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