BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 15. In preparation for COP29, which will be held later this year in Baku, Azerbaijan, the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) conducted a high-level virtual meeting, Trend reports via GECF.
The meeting provided a platform for GECF Member Countries to align on key climate issues and outline their participation strategy for the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference.
Opening the session, Mohamed Hamel, Secretary General of the GECF, highlighted the crucial role of natural gas in meeting global energy demands while advancing climate goals. He emphasized natural gas as a clean, flexible, and reliable energy source, essential for both energy security and sustainable development. He also commended Azerbaijan’s leadership in promoting smart, sustainable energy transitions by integrating natural gas with renewable energy sources.
Key Discussion Topics:
Mitigation, Adaptation, and Loss & Damage: Participants reviewed the latest developments in climate action, focusing on strategies for mitigation, adaptation efforts, and addressing loss and damage.
Climate Finance – New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG): Climate finance remained a central topic, with discussions on the evolving NCQG, a key priority at COP29, and the need for new financial commitments to support global climate initiatives.
Paris Agreement Article 6: The forum examined Article 6, exploring opportunities for cooperative approaches between countries, carbon markets, and non-market mechanisms.
Technology Mechanism: Delegates addressed the Technology Mechanism’s role, emphasizing the alignment of its work with climate finance commitments and ensuring impactful outcomes.
Trade & Cross Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM): The meeting also discussed the potential implications of CBAM on non-EU producers, addressing concerns of trade discrimination and exploring strategies for fair treatment of GECF member countries.
The session concluded with a discussion on the GECF’s plans for active participation at COP29, including ministerial meetings, side events, and a dedicated pavilion. The GECF reaffirmed its commitment to sustainable energy solutions that balance development needs with climate action.
This meeting set the stage for the GECF to play a proactive role in advancing discussions on global energy and climate issues at COP29.
This November, Azerbaijan will host COP29. This decision was made at the COP28 plenary meeting held in Dubai on December 11 last year. Baku will become the center of the world and will receive about 70–80,000 foreign guests.
The United Nations 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 with the climate system. COP—the Conference of the Parties—is the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change. There are 198 countries that are parties to the Convention. Unless the parties agree otherwise, the COP is held annually. The first COP event took place in March 1995 in Germany's Berlin with its secretariat in Bonn.
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