BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 19. The Baku Harmoniya Climate Initiative stands as Azerbaijan's contribution to the overall mission of transforming agriculture and the food system, COP29 President, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Mukhtar Babayev said during the COP29 event themed "Launch of Baku Harmoniya Climate Initiative for Farmers: Empowering Farmers for Climate Resilience" today, Trend reports.
"Agriculture has always played an important role in the history of Azerbaijan. According to the latest data, around 50 percent of the population lives in rural areas, and 36 percent of total employment is in the agricultural sector. Today, agriculture is a key industry ensuring employment and food security.
The Baku Harmoniya initiative is based on the achievements of previous UN FAO initiatives, including the Food and Agriculture Initiative for Sustainable Transformation at COP27 in Egypt and the UAE Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture at COP28. These initiatives have laid a strong foundation for the transformation of agriculture and the food system.
The Baku Harmoniya Climate Initiative is our contribution to this shared mission. The name reflects our goal to unite various efforts into a single vision. It’s about working together to achieve greater and better results.
Under this initiative, we aim to simplify agricultural initiatives. We want to create a platform where farmers, policymakers, and stakeholders can exchange knowledge and learn from each other. This will make cooperation easier and more effective," he emphasized.
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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