May 20, 2024
Since the surprise announcement in December 2023 of Azerbaijan as COP29 host, the last few weeks have seen a flurry of diplomatic activity by the host country.
In February 2024, GLOBE International had an opportunity to engage with the newly-announced chair of the COP29 Organising Committee, Ms Narmin Jharkalova, and her team. This was followed up by engagement with members of the Azerbaijan parliament at the IPU General Assembly in Geneva.
More recently, GLOBE International chief executive, Malini Mehra, visited the Azerbaijan capital, Baku, on a preparatory visit for COP29. GLOBE has already applied for a large pavilion at COP29 in the official Blue Zone to serve as the COP29 Parliamentary Pavilion, in its role as the UNFCCC Focal Point for the Parliamentary Group.
COP29 Parliamentary Pavilion plans
As with the COP28 Parliamentary Pavilion, hosted by GLOBE, this will serve as the home for parliamentarians over the two-week COP in Baku (11-22 November 2024). Members of the parliamentary group, which includes parliamentary networks and organisations from every world region, will have an opportunity to use the Pavilion to follow official proceedings, engage with COP29 leadership, UN organisations and a range of stakeholders, as well as host events, arrange meetings, network and collaborate to advance the Paris Agreement commitments.
Working closely with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Milli Majlis, the National Parliament of Azerbaijan, which will be holding a parliamentary meeting during COP29, GLOBE will seek to provide a vital information, engagement, and coordination service to the wider global parliamentary constituency active on the climate change agenda.
The COP29 Parliamentary Pavilion planned by GLOBE will avail of livestream, as at COP28, to enable events to be streamed directly into the world’s parliaments and facilitate virtual engagement in real-time during the two-week COP.
Baku meetings with COP29 leadership
In preparation for enhanced parliamentary engagement and to learn first-hand about the host country’s agenda, Ms Mehra had an opportunity to meet with COP29 President, the Minister for Ecology & Natural Resources, Mr Mukhtar Babayev, his Deputy Minister Ms. Umayra Taghiyeva and her officials in Baku. Meetings with other senior leaders included Mr Soltan Mmamadov MP to discuss parliamentary engagement, and a range of other stakeholders from Azerbaijan’s public and private sectors, resident UN leadership and diplomatic corps.
A highlight of Ms Mehra’s visit was an audience with the COP29 High-Level Champion, Ms Nigar Arpadarai MP, at the impressive White City complex housing the COP29 offices. A local Member of Parliament for Central Baku, Ms Arpadarai has spearheaded popular green initiatives and is focussed on the challenges of the green transition in her international role as High-Level Champion. She is championing a greater focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as well as more female entrepreneurs, mirroring the COP29 Presidency’s priorities of climate finance, inclusion and real economy green transition.
During the interaction, Ms Mehra was able to share GLOBE’s plans for greater parliamentary engagement at COP28, both virtually through live-stream as well as in-person at the COP29 Parliamentary Pavilion. Key issues such as the role of parliaments in supporting real economy sustainable transition through enabling legislation, enhanced dialogue on business innovation, digital and AI; climate finance accountability and the next round of whole-of-economy NDCs (nationally determined contributions) due by 2025 were also discussed.
The GLOBE COP29 preparatory visit to Baku was extremely productive and has laid the groundwork for more effective partnership with local entities and leadership to ensure a successful COP29 and real action on the UNFCCC agenda, including by our vital constituency of members of parliaments.
For GLOBE’s regular newsletter Parliamentarians@COP29 please click here.
