BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24. The third Informal Shamakhi Meeting of climate negotiators was held in Azerbaijan's Shamakhi on July 22–23 under Azerbaijan's organization and hosting, in cooperation with Türkiye and Australia, the co-presidents of COP31.
According to Azerbaijan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the meeting brought together more than 70 representatives from 34 countries and the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Participants included ministers, deputy ministers, climate envoys of heads of state, chairs of UNFCCC negotiating groups, heads of delegations of Parties to the Convention, and other senior officials.
As in previous years, discussions focused on key issues on the international climate agenda, including climate finance, just transition, climate adaptation, greenhouse gas emissions reduction, the COP31 Presidency agenda, and the "Belém 1.5 Mission" under the Troika mandate of the COP29, COP30 and COP31 presidencies.
The meeting also featured an informal exchange of views on the outcomes of the 64th session of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies held in Bonn in June, ways to address the main challenges identified during those negotiations, and their potential contribution to decision-making at COP31 in Türkiye.
Opening and closing sessions featured remarks by Azerbaijan's Deputy Foreign Minister and COP29 Lead Negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev, COP31 Chief Executive Officer and Türkiye's Deputy Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Fatma Varank, and COP31 Deputy President for Negotiations Sally Box. Video messages from Azerbaijan's Presidential Representative on Climate Issues Mukhtar Babayev and COP30 Chief Executive Officer Ana Toni, Brazil's National Secretary for Climate Change, were also presented at the opening ceremony.
The ministry noted that the Shamakhi Meeting has become one of the key events in the annual COP calendar. Its informal format allows climate negotiators to engage in open, transparent and result-oriented discussions, helping facilitate consensus on decisions expected to be adopted at upcoming COP conferences.
Participants expressed support for establishing the Shamakhi Meeting as a permanent platform. Ethiopia, which will host COP32 in 2027, also announced its readiness to co-organize the fourth Shamakhi Meeting with Azerbaijan in July next year.
