Baku: The Baku Climate Action Week 2026 (BCAW2026) featured a high-level roundtable titled ‘Climate Leadership Beyond COP31: Delivering Implementation Through Partnership’. The event, organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center (NGIC), centered on reviewing the evolution of global climate leadership over the past decade and assessing the experience acquired since the Paris Agreement’s inception.
According to Azerbaijan State News Agency, the roundtable included keynote speakers such as Vaira Vike-Freiberga, NGIC Co-Chair and former President of Latvia; Mukhtar Babayev, Representative of the President of Azerbaijan on Climate Issues and COP29 President; Mehmet Galip Ensarioglu, Chair of the Committee on Environment of the Grand National Assembly of Trkiye; Nigar Arpadarai, Member of Azerbaijan’s Milli Majlis and Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP29; Christian Mensah, Special Advisor to the COP31 Climate High-Level Champion; Jean Baderschneider, Member of the Board of Directors of Fortescue and former Vice President of ExxonMobil; Ismail Serageldin, NGIC Co-Chair and former Vice President of the World Bank; and Dmytro Shlapachenko, UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan, among others.
The gathering emphasized the impact of the evolving geopolitical landscape on international climate cooperation. Discussions also revolved around translating climate commitments into tangible actions and exploring new opportunities for partnerships.