Parties need to keep working on protecting, conserving and restoring nature and ecosystems Wopke Hoekstra, EU Commissioner for Climate Action

Caspian Energy (CE): What are the main issues for the EU that require a much broader focus and attention to improve the environmental situation? Are those issues on the agenda of the upcoming COP29 conference in Baku?

Wopke Hoekstra, EU Commissioner for Climate Action: Climate change is a reality. The science is clear. International cooperation in the field of climate is essential as climate change knows no borders. We need to keep a high ambition globally and at home, bringing everyone on board. One of the main areas of focus is to work closely with partners to accelerate the global just and inclusive clean transition.

At COP29, ministers and leaders must 1) reaffirm their commitment to transition away from fossil fuels, and de­monstrate how they are taking steps to do so, 2) agree a new, ambitious and achievable goal for climate finance that brings confidence that the public and private resources will be there to support this transition and 3) launch an international carbon market in line with the Paris agreement with rules that deliver environmental integrity, transparency and accountability. 

The COP will also be an important moment to check that we are all making progress with preparing our next round of emissions reduction targets, ahead of COP30 in Brazil. We believe that Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) that effectively address the Global Stocktake outcome, including ‘transitioning away from fossil fuels’ are essential. 

CE: How would you assess the organization work within the framework of COP29? Do you find its agenda sa­tisfactory? 

Wopke Hoekstra: Azerbaijan is putting a lot of efforts in the preparation and is doing a good job in organising the UN Climate Change conference. Each COP builds on the work of previous years, and it is important that we have the space to move forward on the implementation of the ‘UAE consensus’, which laid the ground last year for a swift, just and equitable global transition to climate neutral economies in line with limiting global warming to 1,5°C.

The COP29 Presidency has identified their priorities: the new collective quantified goal (NCQG) on climate finance, international carbon markets under Article 6, and setting in motion the process for preparing the new NDCs to be submitted by 2025. These are priorities shared by the EU and many other Parties. 

We also need to continue the work we started at COP28 on targets for the global goal on adaptation and its framework, the operationalisation of funding arrangements for respon­ding to loss and damage, including a new dedicated fund, as well as on the work programmes on just transition and on mitigation ambition and implementation. Parties also need to keep working on the implementation of nature-based solutions and ecosystem-based approaches, and protecting, conserving and restoring nature and ecosystems.