BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 25. The European Commission continues the dialogue with all international partners throughout the year to achieve a successful outcome of COP29, EU Commissioner for Climate Action Wopke Hoekstra, who recently visited Azerbaijan, said in an exclusive interview with Trend.
He noted that international cooperation in the field of climate is essential.
“Climate change knows no border and is an urgent crisis. To combat climate change efficiently, we need to think globally. In this context, COPs are moments where the whole international community meets and agrees on the future of climate policy. While the COPs get a lot of public and media attention, the process never stops.
From the EU, we consider international cooperation crucial. First, we want to provide a good example through our own ambition - we have put in place legislation to reduce emissions by 55% until 2030 and we have set a binding climate neutrality target for 2050. We have gathered extensive experience for example on pricing carbon and are keen to share our lessons learnt with other. The EU is also the biggest donor of climate finance – EUR 28.5 billion in 2022 - and we foster bilateral green alliances and just energy transition partnerships with individual partners,” the Commissioner explained.
Hoekstra went on to add that the most important will be to lead by example and stand ready to negotiate with all parties to achieve the objectives.
“We continue the dialogue with all international partners throughout the year to achieve a successful outcome. For example, I have been to the Copenhagen Ministerial, I’m now in Baku and I am having frequent discussions with many EU and non-EU countries, international organizations to make COP29 a success. At technical level, the work is also constant. The teams in the Commission are working relentlessly to advance the negotiations. They just spent two weeks in Bonn, for instance. All voices need to be heard. Climate action is to be a global responsibility, and climate change is a threat that we all face. At COP28, we managed to build bridges and make coalitions with friends from all over the world. We need to foster a similar environment to make sure no one is left behind,” he said.
The Commissioner noted that the EU and Azerbaijan have a very important strategic energy partnership.
“Actions on methane and renewables are progressing very well as well. Azerbaijan has joined the Global Methane Pledge in February 2024 and its national oil and gas company SOCAR is about to join the Oil & Gas Methane Partnership 2.0. However, as Azerbaijan is gearing up towards COP29, I was happy to learn during my visit that the country will enhance its overall level of domestic climate ambition. As COP President it sets an example for the other countries in the region and globally,” he said.
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