Nov 16, 2024 (MENAFN via COMTEX) --
(MENAFN - Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 16. The transitionto an economically sustainable, clean, and healthy future ranksamong the critical challenges and is a huge social responsibility,Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of AzerbaijanVugar Karimov said at the presentation of the "Third EnvironmentalPerformance Review (EPR) of Azerbaijan," prepared by the UnitedNations Economic Commission for Europe, within COP29 today,Trend reports.
The official highlighted that as a reliable and responsiblemember of the international community, Azerbaijan attaches greatimportance to addressing global environmental issues, activelyworking in this direction.
"Our country has joined more than 20 environmental conventionsand agreements by actively participating in solving globalenvironmental problems.
The environmental protection's primary mission is to preserveecosystems, minimize harmful impacts on the environment, and ensuresustainable development through the rational use of naturalresources, with the goal of providing people with a clean andhealthy living environment," he explained.
The deputy minister mentioned that important decisions regardingthe greening of the region's economy, made by the country'sleadership in the restoration of Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur, arecreating opportunities for mitigating the impacts of climatechange.
"Environmental protection is a priority in the large-scalerestoration and reconstruction process taking place in these areas.Innovative approaches, such as 'smart city' and 'smart village'concepts, are being implemented, and ecosystems are beingrestored.
As part of the green growth concept, policies are beingimplemented to transform the liberated territories into greenenergy zones and achieve carbon neutrality in these areas.
In recent decades, natural disasters and extreme events havebecome more frequent due to the consequences of climate change. Tostrengthen preparedness for hazardous hydrometeorological phenomenaand improve forecasting and early warning systems, work onmodernizing the hydrometeorological observation network continuessuccessfully as part of state investments," he also said.
Karimov added that by 2027, the share of renewable energysources in the country's total energy balance is planned to reach33 percent, up from the current 17 percent.
To note, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties tothe UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which willrun until November 22, opened at the Baku Olympic Stadium onNovember 11. It is the largest event organized by Azerbaijan todate, and the first time in the region that it is being held inAzerbaijan.
Within COP29, the highest level event - the summit of worldleaders on climate action - was held on November 12-13.
The main expectation from COP29 is to agree on a fair andambitious New Collective Quantitative Goal (NCQG) on climatefinance. The COP29 chairmanship has launched 14 initiatives thatinclude linkages between climate action and the SustainableDevelopment Goals, including green energy corridors, green energystorage, harmony for climate resilience, clean hydrogen, methanereduction in organic waste, action on green digital technologies,and other topics.
In addition to being a top priority that creates the conditionsfor action, creating climate finance will also help fulfill the1.5°C pledge by bringing everyone together.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreementsigned at the Rio Earth Summit in June 1992 to prevent dangeroushuman interference in the climate system. The acronym COP(Conference of Parties) stands for"Conference of Parties" and isthe highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of theFramework Convention on Climate Change.
A total of 198 countries are parties to the Convention. Unlessotherwise decided by the parties, COP is held annually. The firstCOP event was held in March 1995 in Berlin, and its secretariat islocated in Bonn.
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