Commonwealth Secretary-General: COP29 is key to closing climate action and funding gaps

COP29 represents a critical opportunity to address significant gaps in climate action and financing.

Patricia Scotland, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations, emphasized this point in an interview with the "Press Trust of India," Azernews reports.

Scotland underscored that the climate negotiations at COP29 in Baku are the world’s most pivotal chance to bridge these gaps. This progress is essential for rebuilding international trust and ensuring the protection of people’s lives and livelihoods. She also stressed the importance of involving fossil fuel producers as key allies in combating climate change.

The 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) is scheduled to take place in Azerbaijan this November. This decision was made during the COP28 plenary meeting in Dubai on December 11, 2023. Over the course of two weeks, Baku will become a global focal point, hosting approximately 70,000 to 80,000 international visitors.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, established at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, aims to prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.

The term "COP" stands for Conference of the Parties. With 198 member countries, the COP meets annually, with the first session held in Berlin in March 1995. The COP’s secretariat is based in Bonn.