The COP29 Presidency today announced the COP29 Presidency Initiatives as part of its “Action Agenda” to accelerate progress on climate action and supplement the formal negotiated COP agenda. In a letter addressed to all Parties and non-party stakeholders, the COP29 President-Designate Mukhtar Babayev set out the details of the package and how global stakeholders can contribute to the COP29 Presidency’s vision to enhance ambition and enable action.
The Action Agenda confronts the world’s most pressing climate problems, shines a light on forgotten priorities, and provides a focus for wide universe of actors to come together. It also reflects Azerbaijan’s own capabilities and unique contributions to the fight against climate change, as COP is held in the Caucuses for the first time. It represents an ambitious effort by the COP29 Presidency to drive action across all climate pillars and covers a range of key priorities, such as energy, finance, agriculture, cities, human development, and the climate-peace nexus, amongst others. Many of these initiatives, in particular, the Baku Initiative on Climate Finance, Investment and Trade (BICFIT), the Baku Initiative on Human Development for Climate Resilience, and the Multisectoral Actions Pathways (MAP) for Resilient and Healthy Cities all integrate and address cross-sectoral synergies.
In the COP29 pledges and declarations, governments and non-governmental entities will come together to agree on the principles and pathways for how they will enhance ambition in their next collective steps to confront the climate crisis. The COP29 Presidency will share the drafts texts with all parties and constituencies for their review and feedback as a sign of its transparent and inclusive approach. The COP29 Presidency will then finalise the texts and republish them on the COP29 website in due course.
Through the launch of these Initiatives, the COP29 Presidency is establishing a range of platforms, partnerships and programmes to enable action before, during and after COP29. Finance, as a critical enabler of climate action, is a centrepiece of the COP29 Presidency’s vision, so the Initiatives have been designed with a special emphasis on delivering the means of implementation.
The COP29 Action Agenda has been developed in collaboration with the COP29 Presidency’s partners across the globe, including the UN Task Force for COP29 and its member agencies, international organisations and multilateral bodies, national governments and non-state actors.
Launching the COP29 Action Agenda, Mr. Babayev said “Azerbaijan is honoured by the confidence that the global community has placed in us to host COP29. But we are just one country and we cannot solve the climate crisis alone. We seek to inspire every actor and demonstrate what is possible with commitment and determination, and we never underestimate the value of an individual contribution. We hope to remind everyone that even in the face of such an enormous challenge, every action matters because every fraction of a degree matters.”
COP29 UN High-Level Climate Champion Nigar Arpadarai said “Now is the time for the whole universe of climate stakeholders to sign up, speak up and step up on climate action. If we are to meet our goals, we need everyone to do their part. This is your chance to play an important role in COP29.”
COP29 Presidency Catches Global Attention On Climate Action
