Azerbaijan Highlights COP29 Climate Finance Outcomes at Türkiye’s Istanbul Climate Finance Summit
Baku, The Gulf Observer: Azerbaijan highlighted the outcomes of COP29 and the importance of international climate finance at the Istanbul Climate Finance Summit, held under Türkiye’s COP31 Presidency agenda.
Azerbaijan was represented at the summit by Mukhtar Babayev, the President’s Representative for Climate Issues, and Yalchin Rafiyev, Deputy Foreign Minister, who serve on the Advisory Board of Türkiye’s COP31 Presidency.
The summit brought together representatives of government institutions, multilateral development banks, international financial institutions, investors and the private sector through panel discussions, high-level sessions, roundtables and thematic discussions focused on climate finance, resilient urban development and preparations for COP31.
Rafiyev moderated roundtable discussions on “Climate Finance for Climate-Resilient Cities,” where he highlighted key outcomes achieved during COP29 in Baku.
He noted that COP29 produced an agreement on the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG), also known as the Baku Finance Goal, establishing a long-term objective to scale up climate finance for developing countries to $1.3 trillion annually by 2035.
Rafiyev also emphasized that sustainable cities were identified as a key priority under the COP29 Action Agenda. In this context, he highlighted the launch of the Baku Sustainability Coalition and the Multisectoral Action Pathways (MAP) initiative for Sustainable and Healthy Cities.
The Azerbaijani official further referred to the 13th World Urban Forum (WUF13), hosted by Baku in May 2026, saying the forum produced important outcomes for advancing the climate resilience agenda of cities.
He also underscored the importance of Baku Climate Action Week, scheduled to take place in Azerbaijan next week, in maintaining momentum and ensuring the sustainability of climate-related outcomes.
Babayev and Rafiyev also participated in the high-level session titled “Climate Implementation Bridge: A High-Level Roadmap for Implementation and Financing,” chaired by Türkiye’s Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Murat Kurum.
During the session, the Azerbaijani representatives highlighted the contribution of COP29’s landmark outcomes to ongoing international discussions on climate finance and implementation.
The summit provided a platform for Azerbaijan and other participating countries and institutions to exchange views on mobilizing climate finance, strengthening urban resilience and advancing international cooperation ahead of COP31.
