Yunus reaches Azerbaijan for COP29

Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus reached Baku, Azerbaijan this evening (local time) to attend the UN's biggest climate conference, COP29, which is seen as a "pivotal opportunity" to accelerate action to tackle the climate crisis.

A flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, carrying the CA and his entourage, left Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 11:00am (local time).

Prof Yunus is leading a small delegation and will return home on November 14, a senior official at his office told UNB.

Global leaders and diplomats from across the world are joining the annual climate summit to discuss how to avoid increasing threats from climate change in a place that was one of the birthplaces of the oil industry.

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Yunus asks Bangladesh to make extra efforts in COP29

The 29th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) is taking place from November 11 to 22.

Environment, Forest and Climate Change Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan, who will be attending the COP29, stressed the urgent need for global unity in tackling climate change.

Rizwana urged developed countries to fulfil their climate finance commitments and provide technological support to nations most vulnerable to climate impacts.

"It's time that developed nations uphold their commitments to support the most affected countries," she asserted, highlighting the disproportionate challenges faced by vulnerable nations like Bangladesh.

It was in Baku where the world's first oil fields were developed in 1846 and where Azerbaijan led the world in oil production in 1899.

Sandwiched between Iran in the south and Russia in the north, Azerbaijan is on the Caspian Sea and was part of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1991.

Nearly all of Azerbaijan's exports are oil and gas, two of the world's leading sources of planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev described them in April as a "gift of the gods."

Aliyev said it is a "big honour" for Azerbaijan to host the conference.

He has also said he wants his country to use more renewable energy at home so that it can export more oil and gas abroad, according to the AP.

With global temperatures hitting record highs, and extreme weather events affecting people around the globe, COP29 will bring together leaders from governments, business and civil society to advance concrete solutions to the defining issue of time.

A key focus of COP29 will be on finance, as trillions of dollars are required for countries to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect lives and livelihoods from the worsening impacts of climate change, according to the host.

The conference will also be a key moment for countries to present their updated national climate action plans under the Paris agreement, which are due by early 2025.

If done right, these plans would limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and double as investment plans advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.

With climate impacts inflicting growing human and economic costs in every country, every COP is a vital global moment that must deliver major progress, and COP29 is no exception.