Caspian Energy (CE): Mr. Soltanov, what are the priority issues on the agenda for COP29? What new commitments on carbon emissions do you anticipate might be made?
Elnur Soltanov, Chief Executive Officer of COP29 Azerbaijan: COP29 will be a litmus test for the Paris Agreement and global climate action. The vision for COP29 is to fulfil past promises and deliver on the outcomes of the Global Stocktake agreed at COP28 to keep 1.5C within reach.
We need to make significant progress across all pillars of the Paris Agreement, with climate finance at the very centre. The COP29 Presidency’s top negotiating priority is to agree a fair and ambitious New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance, taking into account the needs and priorities of developing country Parties.
Our efforts on climate finance must include the full scope and potential of the resources that need to be made available. And our work should represent progression beyond previous efforts, delivering multiples adequate to the scale and urgency of the problem.
But this is not just our priority. The COP29 Presidency has heard the voices of so many Parties and communities that are counting on all of us to take this step at COP29.
Adopting the NCQG will be a pivotal moment for whether Parties can make progress on the means of implementation and support, and the Paris Agreement more broadly. This will be the first major finance goal after the Paris Agreement and we are sparing no effort to support the Parties to reach consensus.
Throughout our communications and engagements with Parties we have been forthright about our expectations and the role we must each play to deliver solutions. This is because the stakes could not be higher: climate change is not a future risk, it is a real and present danger to billions of people around the world.
CE: Azerbaijan is a party to the world’s many discussion platforms, such as Davos, SCO, the Security Conference and others, but climate and environmental issues are not currently regarded as major points of their respective agendas. Do you think this policy is in need of reconsideration in order to achieve substantial, concrete results at climate summits?
Elnur Soltanov: In fact, climate has become a central issue for many significant international platforms. Climate change has important implications for global development and security - and conflict has its own consequences for the climate.
We are working to bring global attention to this interconnectedness through the inclusion of a COP Truce in the COP29 Presidency’s action agenda. This appeal for a global ceasefire for the COP period is intended to promote the global peace agenda while also reducing emissions from military activities.
COP29 will be held in November in Baku, but the work to achieve our goals does not wait until then. The COP29 Presidency has been engaged throughout the year at major multinational engagements like the IMF World Bank Spring Meetings, the Munich Security Conference, and the G7 – and we were in attendance at the UN General Assembly in September.
We are committed to greater international cooperation and continuity on climate action. As one example, we are building further linkages among the Conventions on climate change, biodiversity, and desertification to ensure coordination, leverage synergies, and cooperate on crosscutting issues. We have initiated collaboration with the Colombian Presidency of COP16 to the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Saudi Presidency of COP16 to the Convention to Combat Desertification, and are inviting them for a joint meeting during COP29.
CE: How do you assess the outcome of COP28 UAE, which was hosted by an oil-producing country with a large oil fund?
Elnur Soltanov: At COP28, progress was made in advancing global climate action. Key among them was the Global Stocktake, which laid out the roadmap for keeping the 1.5°C target agreed upon in the Paris Agreement within reach, ensuring that no one is left behind in the fight against climate change.
By tackling these challenging issues, COP28 built on the outcomes of previous COPs and established a strong foundation for further progress at this year’s COP in Baku.
It is essential that we implement the Global Stocktake outcomes, in a nationally determined manner, to keep us on track to a 1.5 - aligned and climate resilient world, in line with the Paris Agreement. The COP29 Presidency, as a member of the Troika with the COP28 and COP30 Presidencies, has issued communication to Parties to enhance international cooperation and stimulate ambition in the next round of NDCs.
CE: Will issues related to the standards of drilling and gas flaring by oil companies be raised? Will more advanced standards for platforms’ safety be adopted that will help to protect the industry?
Elnur Soltanov: All countries come from different starting points and the requirements to decarbonise the existing system, to build the renewable system of the future, and ensure that the transition is just and orderly will differ according to national circumstances.
As we prepare our next Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), we have already committed that we will be aligned with keeping the 1.5C, as informed by the latest science and in light of different national circumstances.
SOCAR has committed to eliminate routine flaring by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050, as a signatory of the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter. SOCAR also signed the Oil Gas Methane Partnership 2.0, the flagship global methane reporting platform within UNEP. In addition, this year Azerbaijan became a party to the Global Methane Pledge, which commits the parties to collectively reduce methane emissions 30 percent by 2030.
We will also continue to ensure there is space on these important issues and have already hosted two high-level energy dialogues with the International Energy Agency, and additional third dialogue on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September. We co-hosted a methane workshop with the International Energy Agency in Baku in October, and we are co-organising a methane and non-CO2 greenhouse gases Summit with the US and China at COP29.
CE: Which stand-alone or specific communities currently need the greatest international protection from the consequences of climate change? Are there implications from climate change for migration policy?
Elnur Soltanov: Climate change is a threat to every single one of us; there is no country on earth immune to its impacts.
However, some places and peoples are plainly suffering an undue burden. In particular, Small Islands Developing States and the Least Developed Countries are on the frontlines of climate change. The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, has described climate action and supporting these most vulnerable nations as “our moral duty.”
We will spare no efforts to bring together the developed and developing nations and steer the process to a consensus at COP29. It is critical now more than ever to act on climate change as a common commitment, a moral duty and an unmissable opportunity for sustainable development.
We must address the fact that climate finance is currently flowing at an insufficient scale and in unequal directions.
CE: Will standards for the construction and operation of nuclear facilities be amended due to climate change?
Elnur Soltanov: The inclusion of nuclear energy in the Global Stocktake at COP28 as a means for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions was a historic milestone. This development is a testament to the progress made collectively in ensuring the safety and security of nuclear energy.
As we explore expanded use of nuclear energy, it is imperative that we redouble our efforts in addressing nuclear safety. Moreover, facilitating affordable access to nuclear technologies for peaceful purposes should remain the cornerstone of our collective endeavors.
On the question of construction standards, COP29 will include a thematic day devoted to urbanisation that will include ministerial deep-dives on construction and infrastructure.
Thank you for the interview.
