BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. 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 Regional Development of the Czech Republic Petr Kulhánek.
He told Trend that the inclusion of tourism in the official agenda of COP29 marks a historic milestone.
Kulhánek highlighted the unique role tourism plays in addressing climate change and the opportunities COP29 presents for international collaboration on this front.
"I believe what makes this COP unique is that, for the first time, tourism has been included in the official COP29 agenda. This presents a wonderful opportunity for all countries to come together and focus on tourism sustainability, climate change, and cooperation. The negotiations are still ongoing, with officials from across the world in attendance. We hope the talks will conclude with positive and mutually beneficial agreements.
I had a brief chance to explore Baku. So far, I've only visited the city center and the boulevard, which are stunning and impressive. I look forward to seeing more of the city and its surroundings as a whole," he said.
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) for 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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