BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 16. 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 Asel Raimkulova, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources, Ecology, and Technical Supervision of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan.
In an exclusive interview with Trend, Raimkulova emphasized that COP29 is an important event to draw attention to the sustainable development of mountain regions of Kyrgyzstan.
“Kyrgyzstan actively supports COP29. We have our own agenda for the development of mountain regions. Kyrgyzstan's pavilion at the summit is dedicated to the sustainable development of mountainous areas,” she said.
According to her, Kyrgyzstan is a country with high vulnerability to the effects of climate change, which are particularly acute in mountainous areas. Raimkulova expressed hope that COP29 will pay more attention to the problems of mountainous countries, such as biodiversity conservation and the expansion of protected areas.
“Climate change seriously affects the ecosystems of mountainous countries, increasing the risk of emergencies. Therefore, preservation of the environment is one of our most important tasks,” Raimkulova 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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