BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 14. 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 Yingming Yang, ADB Vice-President for South, Central and West Asia.
In an exclusive interview with Trend, he pointed out that as the climate bank for Asia and the Pacific, ADB would first like to highlight that concrete actions need to be taken to address the climate crisis.
“There is no Planet B. Our region is already experiencing its impact, with many of our client countries among the most vulnerable. We are glad that COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev has consistently expressed that the objective of the summit is to “enhance ambition and enable global climate action”,” Yang added.
The ADB Vice-President said that some of the key ambitions of COP 29 are related to (i) negotiations and agreement on Climate Finance or the New Collective Quantified (financing) Goal (NCQG), (ii) final agreement on the methods for trading carbon credits under Article 6 (of the 2015 Paris Agreement) and the revitalization of Carbon markets (iii) Establishing goals and targets for transitioning away from fossil fuels (iv) the growth of the Loss and Damage fund.
These are not easy issues. Article 6 has taken 10 years to negotiate. We are very hopeful that under the leadership of Azerbaijan, meaningful progress will be made at the COP Summit, with clear plans of actions for 2025 and beyond, which ADB will continue to support. On climate finance specifically, in order to achieve tangible results, negotiators should remain focused on attracting needs-based financing i.e. financing that suits the needs of countries,” said Yang.
He believes that it is also critical to establish transparency and accountability mechanisms to ensure finance is used effectively by the intended beneficiaries.
“This also helps build trust and mobilize additional climate finance. ADB has recently launched a flagship report - The Asia–Pacific Climate Report: Catalyzing Finance and Policy Solutions. This report is a tool for policy makers to understand how to finance adaptation needs, and how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the lowest cost,” noted the ADB Vice-President.
ADB’s support to Azerbaijan’s COP29 presidency
Yang said ADB appreciates Azerbaijan’s steadfast efforts in addressing climate change, and for the Government of Azerbaijan’s leadership in taking on the COP29 Presidency with its vision to enhance ambition and enable action for the conference.
“I understand that government is actively working on making COP29 an excellent success for climate action and Azerbaijan. As the climate bank for Asia and the Pacific region, ADB has been proud to support the COP29 Presidency in both the negotiations track and Action Agenda and we are committed to continue providing end-to-end support to the COP Presidency. We are doing this through technical assistance which includes capacity building, advice, and knowledge support on the core issues for COP29,” said ADB’s Vice-President.
He recalled that since May 2024, ADB experts have been supporting the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources (MENR) in preparing the first National Biennial Transparency Report (BTR) for Azerbaijan required under the Paris Agreement.
“ADB experts organized a workshop and provided hands-on support to carry out detailed data collection and validation of the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory report and National Inventory Document (NID). We have been closely supporting the Article 6 negotiations team of the COP29 Presidency. Workshops have been organized for MENR and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) to enable them in navigating international negotiations to be undertaken in run up to and at COP29 to fully operationalize Article 6 of the Paris Agreement,” said the VP.
He went on to add that ADB is also working closely with the COP29 Presidency on several Action Agenda initiatives across various sectors, including Just transition, Urban, and Human development, such as Education, Health and Green skills.
“ADB has worked closely with the COP29 Presidency on developing the Baku Principles on Human development for Climate Resilience. ADB will also be launching a number of our own initiatives during COP29 in alignment with COP29 Presidency’s Action Agenda, including a Climate and Education Playbook and ADB Climate & Health portal. ADB-led initiatives on just transition, NDC 3.0, Article 6, Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM), Nature Solution Finance Hub for Asia and the Pacific, Community Resilience Partnership Program, Climate and Health Initiative will be showcased at COP29,” he said.
Plans for signing documents at COP29
There are a number of initiatives that ADB will launch and agreements that ADB will sign, announced Yang.
“These include the launch of the CAREC Climate Change Action Plan (2024-2027). The CAREC Secretariat, hosted by ADB, has engaged closely on the COP29 Baku Initiative for Climate Finance, Investment and Trade. The CAREC Partnership co-hosted by Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Economy and ADB will take place on Finance Day (Nov 14th). The Climate Change Action Plan was presented for endorsement at the 23rd CAREC Ministerial Conference on 8 November in Astana, Kazakhstan Climate Change Action Plan (CCCAP) implements key steps and recommendations identified by the CAREC Climate Change Vision.
The Action Plan, covering 2024-2027, seeks to prioritize regional climate adaptation and mitigation projects and initiatives across CAREC clusters and strengthen coordination among development partners to increase and optimize resources in support to regional climate actions,” the VP explained.
Second, as Yang said, ADB and the Green Climate Fund will launch a Glaciers Study, with the support of a number of countries including the Government of Azerbaijan ADB, in close coordination with Central West countries, prepared a regional proposal on Glaciers to Farms (G2F) for Green Climate Fund (GCF) Board consideration in 2025.
“The proposal covers water, agriculture, and social sectors and aims to access GCF’s financing for adaptation and resilience for the region, including Azerbaijan. Intervention areas include landscape management, reservoir development, mountain cities resilience, climate information, technology and digitalization, social protection, and infrastructure. GCF support for a glaciers study under the Project Preparatory Facility (PPF) is planned to be launched by ADB and GCF with Central West Asia DMCs, including Azerbaijan, at COP29,” he said.
The VP noted that ADB is also signing financing agreements with the private sector for 2 Solar projects at COP29.
“This year, ADB has approved $131.5 million additional financing for Azerbaijan’s Railway Sector Development Program, alongside $47 million for Azerbaijan Railways Digital Transformation project. We hope these will be signed during COP 29 or soon after,” he added.
ADB support for green energy corridors
Yang pointed out that ADB supports the Caspian Sea Green Corridor Project through its Technical Assistance under the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program: The Caspian Sea Green Energy Corridor Project.
“The project aims to support the initial phase by:
⁃ Enhancing regional dialogue and cooperation to create the Caspian Sea Green Energy Corridor through facilitated meetings and workshops, streamlining decision-making among stakeholders, and improving coordination and communication among member countries;
⁃ Supporting the establishment of legal and commercial frameworks for the corridor through guidance and review of documents by international and national legal consultants;
⁃ Conducting high-level technical assessments and feasibility studies through owner’s engineering services provided by international consultants. This major initiative will promote the region's energy security, sustainability, and economic development, creating a green corridor for renewable energy transmission from the Caspian region to Europe,” he concluded.
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