Baku, November 4, AZERTAC

As Baku prepares to host COP29, Ali Serim, a globally recognized climate advocate and leading authority on climate finance, emphasizes that this pivotal conference is about far more than welcoming climate diplomats. “This conference is tackling trillions of dollars a year challenge for our shared future,” Serim stated. “The responsibility and mission of COP29 are both colossal and historic, as we will work to secure real solutions for climate resilience, justice, and sustainability.”

Serim is calling on delegations and stakeholders to seize this opportunity to establish a clear, impactful definition of climate finance that prioritizes grants and direct aid for developing and vulnerable nations. Climate finance reached only $89.6 billion in 2021, emphasizing the need for a redefined approach. According to the OECD, $100 billion annual target was reached for the first time in 2022 with delay—two years after the original deadline. Serim stated that COP29 must go beyond setting new targets to make this funding accessible by defining it as non-repayable aid and excluding debt-inducing instruments.

In 2015, with the signing of the Paris Agreement, countries committed to developing a “new collective quantified goal on climate finance” (NCQG) to replace the initial $100 billion target. The NCQG is expected to be adopted at COP29, channeling significantly greater funds to support low-carbon, climate-resilient initiatives in critical sectors such as energy, transport, and agriculture in developing countries. This scaled-up financial commitment is essential to meet global climate finance needs, which are projected to reach $8.5 trillion per year by 2030 to keep global warming within 1.5°C and avoid severe climate impacts.

“The responsibility on COP29 is unlike any prior summit,” Serim noted. “This mission is about securing our common future, with new pledges and a universally accepted definition of climate finance that reflects the immediate, non-negotiable needs of the world’s most vulnerable. COP29 to be hosted by Azerbaijan is the most important COP ever!”

As COP29 convenes in Baku, Ali Serim urges all participants to commit to transformative climate action, marking this conference as a historic moment in the global response to climate change. “COP29 has the opportunity to make history,” he concluded, “by ensuring that climate finance serves as a true path to resilience, equity, and sustainability for all.”