COP29: UAE hands over presidency to Azerbaijan

The UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, formally handed over the COP presidency to Azerbaijan's Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, Mukhtar Babayev, at the opening of COP29 in Baku on Monday.

During his speech, Dr. Al Jaber called on all Parties to “prove once again that we can unite, act and deliver” over the next two weeks in Baku.

“By delivering the historic UAE Consensus, we accomplished what many thought was impossible,” Dr. Al Jaber said at a ceremony marking the official transfer of the Presidency to Mukhtar Babayev.

Negotiators at COP28 had “proved that multilateralism can move the dial and make a difference,” he told delegates. “In the end, determination conquered doubt and your hard work paid off with first after first for climate progress.”

Dr. Al Jaber said that despite COP29 being held at a time of complexity and conflict, “the United Arab Emirates will always choose partnerships over polarisation, dialogue over division and peace over provocation.”

In his speech, the outgoing President said he had been “humbled by the experience” and thanked the many people who helped deliver the “historic, comprehensive and groundbreaking UAE Consensus,” including President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and the entire UAE leadership.

Since its inception at COP28 last year, the UAE Consensus has emerged as the defining point of reference for global climate ambition and sustainable development. It contains a series of firsts across the climate agenda, including agreement on a just, orderly and equitable energy transition and goals for tripling renewable energy capacity, doubling energy efficiency and ending deforestation by the end of the decade.

“Progress did not end when the gavel came down on the UAE Consensus,” Dr. Al Jaber said. “In the months since the end of COP28, the initiatives we launched have gathered pace.” To date, 55 companies have joined the Oil & Gas Decarbonisation Charter (OGDC), covering 44 percent of global oil production. The OGDC is “the most comprehensive private sector partnership on decarbonisation to date,” he said.

Highlighting the importance of collaboration, Dr. Al Jaber referenced a summit held earlier this month in Abu Dhabi that brought together leaders in climate, energy, artificial intelligence and in an integrated effort to drive low-carbon growth.

“When sectors work together, we can lift economies and lower emissions. We can make climate and socio-economic progress, and we can turn declarations on paper into decisive action on the ground,” he said.

Progress has also been made in finance, with the Philippines being appointed as the host country for the Board of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage. The COP28 President called on Parties to contribute to the fund, which was operationalised and capitalised at COP28 last year. To date, more than $850 million has been pledged to the fund and funding arrangements.

ALTÉRRA, the world’s largest climate-focused investment fund also launched at COP28, has placed $6.5 billion with impact investors – “a model that must be built on,” Dr. Al Jaber said.

At COP29, Parties must deliver a New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance that is “robust and capable of fully implementing the UAE Consensus,” Dr. Al Jaber said.

“At COP28, we broke new ground and set many precedents,” he told delegates. One of the most important is the COP Presidencies Troika – a new “mechanism for momentum” uniting the Presidencies of COP28, COP29 and COP30.

The Troika will continue to mobilise multilateral platforms, from the UN to the G20, to “solidify the legacy of the UAE Consensus,” Dr. Al Jaber said, urging all Parties to follow the roadmap it set for keeping 1.5°C within reach.

Dr. Al Jaber closed out his speech with a call to action and some words of advice for the incoming COP29 President Babayev. He said, “The consensus we achieved in Dubai was historic. Yet history will judge us by our actions, not our words…. Let positivity prevail and let it power the process. Let actions speak louder than words. Let results outlast the rhetoric and remember, we are what we do, not what we say.”