BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 19. 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 the Minister of Environment and Climate Change of Sierra Leone Jiwoh Emmanuel Abdulai.
In an exclusive interview with Trend, Abdulai stressed that the financial burden of combating climate change continues to grow with time.
"We hope our partners can reach a mutual agreement. We are here to represent the interests of our people and will do everything we can. We have declared a need for climate finance amounting to $1.3 billion. Developed nations are discussing how to support us in the fight against climate change," he said.
The Minister emphasized that Sierra Leone’s participation in COP29 is driven by the need to resolve climate finance issues.
"We hope there will be no further delays. Over time, the costs to our countries, economies, and ecosystems are rising. The situation is even worse in Tropical Africa. Forests and biodiversity are particularly suffering from climate change. The longer we wait, the more expensive it will be in the end. We hope that COP29 will deliver solutions, particularly on the critical issue of climate financing," Abdullai added.
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 on November 11 at the Baku Olympic Stadium. The event is the largest organized by Azerbaijan to date and is the first time the region has hosted the event in Azerbaijan.
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.
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