COP29 President: Taking money away from climate change is a "short-sighted decision"

Environment Editorial, June 19 (EFE).- The president of the recent COP29 in Baku, Mukhtar Babayev, considered that "taking money" away from climate change and development is a "short-sighted decision," so the Conference on Financing for Development that Seville (southern Spain) will host at the end of the month "comes at a critical time."
Azerbaijan's current Special Presidential Representative for Climate Affairs and former Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources is in Bonn, Germany, this week for the Climate Conference, where the groundwork is being laid for the upcoming COP30, which will be hosted in Belém, Brazil, in November.
In an interview with EFE, Babayev shares his views on expectations for the current meeting in Germany and the upcoming summit, which will begin later this month in Seville (from July 30th to July 3rd).
Regarding the Bonn agenda, the politician stated that the parties are expected to make "real progress" in support to mitigate the impact of the energy transition and that "advanced discussions are planned on commitments such as tripling renewable energy capacity and accelerating action on the energy transition in this critical decade."
"We will consult with governments and civil society on the 'Baku to Belém roadmap'," he said, "to achieve the climate finance target of $1.3 trillion (€1.1 million, the annual target agreed at COP29 for developing countries)."
According to Babayev, "these sessions (in Bonn) will help identify and shape credible options for how we can achieve this (financial) goal."
Seville arrives at a "critical moment"Regarding the upcoming UN International Conference on Financing for Development, scheduled to begin in Seville on the 30th, he considered that "it comes at a critical time."
In this regard, he referred to the COP29, which he chaired, where it was agreed to provide $300 billion (€250 billion) in climate finance annually to developing countries by 2035, "a historic decision."
"But instead of stepping up, donors began 2025 by backpedaling," Babayev lamented, and development budget cuts were seen worldwide.
According to him, "taking money away from development and climate is short-sighted " because "every dollar spent in these areas is an investment in our shared future."
"This is supposed to be the year we kick off the decade of climate action, but that won't happen unless we deliver the money we've promised," warned the politician, who believes it's "necessary to fulfill the commitment to double funding by the end of the year."
"Azerbaijan will be in Seville to fight for climate finance and to hold countries accountable for the promises they have made," he said.
Regarding some of the agreements already reached, he recalled that in Baku "a new goal was established to increase global energy storage capacity to six times higher than 2022 levels."
His country's special representative for climate affairs highlighted that "new commitments on hydrogen and green energy zones were also launched."
"These measures will help create an energy system ready for the massive deployment of renewable energy. This is how our 'agenda for action' will help foster a fair, just, and orderly transition away from fossil fuels in our energy systems," he concluded. EFE
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