Africa highly values Azerbaijan’s diplomatic efforts in climate and peace, APA reports.
These remarks were voiced yesterday in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, during the Forum of Vulnerable Countries, organized within the framework of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Africa Climate Week (ACW) by Azerbaijan’s COP29 Presidency and the Baku Climate and Peace Action Centre.
Delivering the opening speech, Ethiopia’s Minister of Planning and Development, Ms. Fitsum Adela, thanked Azerbaijan for its consistent attention to African countries suffering from climate change and conflicts, highlighting the importance of the Baku Peace Call adopted during COP29 held in Baku last year.
UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Africa, Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, and Italy’s Special Envoy for Climate Change, Francesco Corvaro, emphasized that the Baku Climate and Peace Action Centre, established last year at Azerbaijan’s initiative, has rapidly become one of the world’s leading platforms for international cooperation and climate action.
Chairing the meeting, Elshad Iskandarov, Ambassador-at-Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressed gratitude for the high recognition of COP29 Presidency’s work on linking peace and climate. He underlined that the Baku Centre is supported by more than 30 countries, several multilateral institutions, and over 300 international NGOs. He noted that the Centre’s activities cover diverse areas of challenges faced by nearly 20 highly vulnerable countries affected by climate change and conflicts. It was stressed that, with the Centre’s support, concrete actions have already begun to implement pilot projects in three countries aimed at securing international support and financial partnerships.
Presenting pilot projects prepared with the Centre’s support, government officials from Chad, Iraq, and Guinea-Bissau praised the expertise and assistance provided by the COP29 Presidency. Later, during the Forum’s panel discussions, African officials, as well as representatives of the Green Climate Fund, International Organization for Migration, UN Environment Programme (UNEP), UN Development Programme (UNDP), African Development Bank (AfDB), Adaptation Fund, and other international organizations, expressed their support in this field and put forward concrete cooperation proposals on addressing water scarcity, land degradation, food security, and climate-related migration.
At the conclusion of the Forum, it was agreed that the outcomes of the ongoing activities will be presented at the High-Level Dialogue of the Baku Climate and Peace Action Centre within COP30.
