LONDON, Sept 17 (Askume) – With less than two months to go before the U.N. climate summit COP29, Azerbaijan’s leader on Tuesday outlined a plan to achieve targets as the country works to raise its ambitions.
The main task of the November summit is for countries to agree on new annual targets, and rich countries will contribute money to help poorer countries tackle climate change. Many developing countries say they cannot do so without receiving more financial support for investment.Cutting emissions too quickly will fail to advance its goals .
As countries remain far from agreeing on funding targets , the COP29 presidency this week outlined more than a dozen initiatives that could boost ambition, but without the need for party dialogue and consensus-building that can derail progress. These new funds take the form of commitments and statements that governments can adopt.
Specifically, this includes a fund made up of voluntary contributions from fossil fuel-producing countries and public and private sector companies working on climate issues, as well as grants available to help developing countries cope with climate-induced natural disasters.
Mukhtar Babayev, COP, said in a letter to all parties and stakeholders that such a second-level agenda “utilises the convening power of the COP and the respective national capacities of the host country to establish coalitions and drive progress”.
For example, last year’s COP28 summit in Dubai was attended by over 120 countriesCommitment to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030 .
The COP29 presidency is also expected to win support for its commitment to increase global energy storage capacity six-fold from 2022 levels to 1,500 gigawatts by 2030. This will include a commitment to increase investment in energy grids to connect or renew more than 80 million kilometres (50 million miles) by 2040.
Babayev, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, said the agenda “will help raise ambition by bringing stakeholders together around common principles and goals.”
“We want to focus on some of the most important issues, while also highlighting other priorities,” he said.
Another announcement will call on countries and companies to create a global market for clean hydrogen and focus on overcoming regulatory, technical, financing and standardization barriers.
COP29 leaders also called for a “COP ceasefire”, which would highlight the importance of peace and climate action.
Despite countries’ existing climate commitments, carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels reached record highs last year, and as temperatures soared the world experienced the hottest summer on record.
