BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 21. The COP29 Blue Zone has hosted a side event themed "Enhancing green skills of women and youth: Building on Commonwealth experience," covering the impact of climate change on women and youth, ways to combat it, 'green' skills, and international experience, TurkicWorld reports.
Overall, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) is often discussing the impact of climate change on vulnerable groups, ways to combat it, and green skills.
The mentioned joint side event of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources and the State Support Agency for Non-Governmental Organizations of Azerbaijan was organized at the Commonwealth pavilion by Gender Hub Azerbaijan as part of the "International Initiatives Related to COP29" project.
The event gathered 35 participants from 12 countries, including representatives of local and international NGOs, international organizations, climate activists, and young leaders, who shared their experiences and contributed to both the interactivity of the event and the local application of global knowledge.
It began with high-level speeches from Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Secretariat Patricia Janet Scotland, Nigar Arpadarai, Member of the Azerbaijan Parliament of 6th and 7th convocations, Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan Syed Naveed Qamar, and Head of COP29 at the UK Embassy in Azerbaijan Nick Baker.
The session continued with a panel session, moderated by Chair of Gender Hub Azerbaijan and Member of the COP29 Organizing Committee Maryam Mammadova.
The session included Co-Founder of M&C Consulting Giovanna Mingarelli, Co-Founder of Ushindi Empowerment Group Nafula Wafula-Jitonga, Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Azerbaijan Nasar Hayat, and Founder of GSISD (Global Strategic Institute for Sustainable Development) and THE (Together for Health and Education) Society International Qaiser Nawab.
The panel discussed the impact of climate change on women and youth in different countries, as well as local and international strategies for mitigating these effects. The event concluded with an interactive Q&A session with participants.
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.
