BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 12. EU Commissioner for Climate Change Wopke Hoekstra's October 10-11 Pre-COP meetings in Baku were held in an extremely constructive spirit and demonstrated the readiness of all parties to achieve meaningful progress on all topics at the upcoming 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in November, Trend reports via the data of the EU representation office in Azerbaijan.
“The European Commissioner attended the last ministerial meeting before COP29 on October 10 and 11. It was an important opportunity to discuss topics such as climate finance, international carbon markets, and Article 6, topics of adaptation and mitigation, transparency of reporting, and implementation of COP28 Consensus commitments to accelerate energy transition,” the information noted.
Specifically, Hoekstra participated in a high-level event on the “Roadmap to Mission 1.5," during which he shared the EU's experience in preparing the next NDC (commitments and actions of states to combat climate change) and how the EU relies on the findings of scientists and engages the public and civil society at all stages of NDC preparation.
“The European Commissioner also joined the ministerial discussion on climate change adaptation, responding to environmental loss and damage. This was particularly useful as countries around the world shared their own experiences and agreed on the importance of the climate process to develop a set of indicators to achieve the global adaptation target,” the EU office notes.
Hoekstra also held several high-level bilateral meetings to continue in-depth discussions, including those with the COP29 President-designate, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Mukhtar Babaev (who discussed the tiered structure of the New Collective Quantitative (Financial) Goal (NCQG), the broadening of the investor base, and the crucial role of private finance in achieving climate goals), UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed (who discussed the dynamics of the "COP28 Consensus"), Minister of Environment of Egypt Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Sustainable Development and Environment of Singapore Grace Fu, and Minister of Environment and Natural Resources of Kazakhstan Yerlan Nysanbayev.
“On Friday, Commissioner Hoekstra attended plenary discussions on unlocking the potential of carbon markets through Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and advancing the results of the first global stocktaking of the Paris Agreement. Joint work on carbon pricing on a just energy transition was also discussed,” the EU delegation pointed out.
He had the opportunity to exchange views with South Africa's Minister of Forestry, Fisheries, and Environment Dion George, with John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the US President on International Climate Policy, and with Norway's Minister of Climate and Environment Tore Sandvik.
“The European Commissioner's visit to Baku concluded with a meeting with representatives of Azerbaijan's civil society. He also joined diplomatic students at a discussion at ADA University, which marked the beginning of the activities of the EU Delegation in Azerbaijan within the Green Diplomacy Weeks,” the press release reads.
The 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) will be held this November in Azerbaijan. The decision was made at the plenary meeting of COP28 held in Dubai on December 11 last year. Within two weeks, Baku will become the center of the world and will host about 70-80,000 foreign guests.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference in the climate system. The abbreviation COP (Conference of Parties) means “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 Germany's Berlin with its secretariat in Bonn.