"The establishment of new climate finance mechanisms and the operationalization of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, launching the Loss and Damage Fund in COP29, are significant achievements.” Chairman of the Board of the Center of Analysis of International Relations (AIR Center) said at the 16th Edition of the MEDays Forum in Tangiers, Morocco.

Addressing the panel titled "Climate Resilience: Innovative Financing and Policy in Emerging Economies?" Farid Shafiyev drew attention to the fact that the developed countries, which are the major emitters of greenhouse gases, should have taken the lead and increased the pledge for the developing world.

"The bottomline is developed countries had to pledge more financial assistance. Interestingly, for many centuries, the developed countries have extracted oil, gas, and coal as part of their economic resilience, and now they are demanding the developing part of the world to stop using conventional energy sources. Also, I would like to mention that some developed countries, especially in Europe, have increased the oil production in view of tensions with Russia."

Further, Farid Shafiyev stated that the green transition must be realistic in order to avoid the economic damages, and the top-notch, environmentally friendly projects will alleviate this process.

AIR Center Chairman also made a broad presentation on Azerbaijan’s energy history, green transition strategies, and the ongoing large-scale projects.

He said that Azerbaijan is speeding up its green transition with a significant focus on solar, wind, and green hydrogen as part of its efforts to support global climate goals. Therefore, the country signed several important green energy agreements with Masdar, ADNOC, ACWA Power, TEPSCO, Bp, and China Gezhouba Group Overseas Investment to implement various renewable energy projects.

“Azerbaijan aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by up to 35% by 2030 and 40% by 2050, declaring the liberated territories a “net zero emission” zone. Renewable energy sources are expected to make up 30% of Azerbaijan’s electricity generation by 2030,” he added.

Farid Shafiyev underscored the growing importance of the Black Sea Submarine Cable (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania, Hungary) and Caspian Sea Cable (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan) in the face of current geopolitical realities.

To recap, the 16th edition of the annual MEDays forum will address the complexity of today’s geopolitical landscape and aim to explore strategies enabling states to strengthen their resilience in the face of interconnected challenges while preserving their sovereignty and independence.