BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 21. A total of 119 countries have submitted their national biodiversity targets directly related to water, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), Executive Director of the UN Environment Program (UNEP) Inger Andersen said at the COP29 High-Level Event "Celebrating Water’s Lifeline for Climate, Nature, and People" today, TurkicWorld reports.
"The 6th UN Environment Assembly, held this February, adopted a resolution aimed at strengthening water policy and enhancing initiatives for water resource management. More than 90 percent of the submitted Nationally Distributed Contributions (NDCs) contain important elements related to water, which is a positive development.
The national biodiversity targets have already been presented by 119 countries; however, the harsh reality is that these commitments are not being met, neither in terms of financing nor actions or comprehensive approaches. This is why the Baku Dialogue on Water is so important. We must move much faster and shift from a sectoral approach to an economy-wide perspective," she explained.
According to her, urban infrastructure, agriculture, water use and storage, as well as natural water reservoirs, need to be reevaluated.
"We must have a clear action plan that aligns with institutional commitments and investments. We continue to invest in infrastructure in the wrong places, keep channeling rivers, depriving them of the ability to 'breathe' during high water levels, and build hydropower plants based on the past rather than future projections," Anderson 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 chairmanship 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.
