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Nazrin Abdul

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Within the framework of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, the "High-Level Forum on Climate Transparency" was held on September 25 in New York, initiated by Azerbaijan as the COP29 chair, Azernews reports.

In total, high-level officials from approximately 80 countries and international organisations participated in the event.

The main purpose of the forum was to support the preparation of Biennial Transparency Reports (BTR), which are a key component of the Extended Transparency Framework (ETF) established under the Paris Agreement, and to strengthen cooperation among the party countries, donor organisations, and other interested parties in this area.

Mukhtar Babayev, the president of COP29, highlighted the importance of climate transparency in his opening speech and informed participants about the work accomplished by the COP29 Presidency in this field as well as upcoming action plans. He noted that the BTRs, which will be presented for the first time this year, play a crucial role in objectively assessing the efforts made in addressing climate change. In this context, the COP29 Presidency emphasised the importance of training seminars organised in Baku and various regions worldwide on preparing BTRs in collaboration with other partners.

During the event, the "Baku Global Climate Transparency Platform" (BTP) was presented, which is considered the main legacy of COP29 regarding climate transparency. It aims to build trust among the party countries and enhance their capacity in preparing BTRs.

In his speech, Yalchin Rafiyev, Chief Negotiator of COP29, emphasised that the BTP will serve as an important platform for global climate transparency. He noted that the primary goal of the BTP is to foster trust among party states, support developing countries in preparing and finalising BTRs, and continue the transparency agenda post-COP29 by promoting universal participation in the ETF.

During the event, Zulfiyya Suleymanova, Advisor to the President of Kazakhstan and Special Representative for International Environmental Cooperation, and Francesco Corvaro, Italy's Special Envoy for Climate Change, who are the appointed high-level representatives of COP29 on climate transparency, presented the presidency’s roadmap for climate transparency and BTRs, as well as upcoming action plans.

In the panel discussions held during the event, ministers and deputy ministers from Japan, Egypt, Samoa, the USA, Turkiye, Switzerland, Germany, France, Georgia, and Hungary, along with chief climate negotiators and representatives from UNFCCC, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), expressed the significance of the COP29 Presidency's contributions to climate transparency and their support for the Baku Global Climate Transparency Platform (BTP).

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Nazrin Abdul is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: Nazrin

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