No:401/25, Press release on the participation of Deputy Minister Yalchin Rafiyev in the high-level event titled “From Baku to Belém: Climate Action Towards Sustainable and Enlightened Societies”
22 October 2025 17:09
On 21 October 2025, a high-level event titled “From Baku to Belém: Climate Action towards Sustainable and Enlightened Societies” was held at the headquarters of UNESCO in Paris.
At the opening session of the event, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Chief Negotiator of COP29 Yalchin Rafiyev, as well as the Assistant Directors-General of UNESCO Lidia Arthur Brito and Tawfik Jelassi, delivered speeches.
In his speech, Y.Rafiyev spoke about the key outcomes achieved during Azerbaijan’s chairmanship of the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the role of Azerbaijan in climate diplomacy. He emphasized the key role of education, science and culture in combating climate change.
Y.Rafiyev stated that the COP29 conference hosted by Azerbaijan was marked by a number of important advances such as the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG), the Baku to Belém Roadmap (1.3T), agreement under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement – launching carbon markets and strengthening public-private partnerships; the full operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund, as well as initiatives put forward within the framework of the COP29 chairmanship.
It was emphasized that our country intends to strengthen climate action in close cooperation with regional and global partners within and beyond its COP29 chairmanship and to contribute to a science-based and just climate transition.
The Assistant Directors-General of UNESCO, emphasizing the historic outcomes of COP29, expressed their gratitude for Azerbaijan’s support in building synergies between climate change and the topics on the UNESCO agenda within the framework of COP29 and in the subsequent period.
Within the framework of his visit to Paris, Yalchin Rafiyev held a meeting with the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency Fatih Birol. During the meeting, an exchange of views was held on issues of mutual interest and energy initiatives of the COP29 chairmanship.
In addition, a working lunch meeting was held with the Permanent Representatives to UNESCO of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and a group of other countries. During the meeting, issues such as the achievements of Azerbaijan’s COP29 chairmanship, the impact of climate change on SIDS countries, and our country’s continued support to SIDS countries were discussed, and directions for future cooperation were considered.
