BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 21. The planet is facing a series of unprecedented challenges, and the solutions we seek will not be found in politics, science, or action approaches alone, the Director General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Grethel Aguilar said during a speech organized by the COP29 Presidency together with IUCN, TurkicWorld reports.
She noted that discussions are underway to explore one of the most pressing issues of our time - biodiversity loss, climate change, and the relationship between the rights of indigenous peoples and indigenous communities.
"We are here today because we know that at the heart of the relationship between climate and people is the deep knowledge, experience, and governance systems that Indigenous peoples have developed over thousands of years. This knowledge, deeply connected to the land, water, and sky, is not just a repository of ancient practices. It is a living, evolving wisdom that can guide us toward a more harmonious and sustainable future. The work of our union is based on a basic understanding of the unity of nature and human beings.
It is impossible to preserve natural resources without humans. No goal can be achieved without the participation of indigenous peoples. Thus, our survival is linked to the health of the ecosystems on which we depend, a fact that has been known for centuries to indigenous peoples who have nourished, protected, and managed these ecosystems long before we formalized the concepts of conservation or sustainability," she added.
To note, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which will run until November 22, opened at the Baku Olympic Stadium on November 11. It is the largest event organized by Azerbaijan to date, and the first time in the region that it is being held in Azerbaijan.
Within COP29, the highest-level event - the summit of world leaders on climate action - was held on November 12–13.
The main expectation from COP29 is to agree on a fair and ambitious New Collective Quantitative Goal (NCQG) on climate finance. The COP29 Presidency has launched 14 initiatives that include linkages between climate action and the Sustainable Development Goals, including green energy corridors, green energy storage, harmony for climate resilience, clean hydrogen, methane reduction in organic waste, action on green digital technologies, and other topics.
In addition to being a top priority that creates the conditions for action, creating climate finance will also help fulfill the 1.5°C pledge by bringing everyone together.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Rio Earth Summit in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference in the climate system. The acronym COP (Conference of Parties) stands for "Conference of Parties" and is the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change.
A total of 198 countries are parties to the Convention. Unless otherwise decided by the parties, COP is held annually. The first COP event was held in March 1995 in Berlin, and its secretariat is located in Bonn.
