‘Azerbaijan National NGO Forum receives numerous proposals for cooperation in connection with COP29 from foreign NGOs. We discussed the issue at the Board and decided to take the initiative to create the “COP29 NGO Coalition”. Our initiative was met with great interest by foreign NGOs. Already 108 foreign NGOs from 30 countries have agreed to join this coalition. Applications continue every day, maybe this network will expand even further. It is the first time in Azerbaijan that the cooperation of local and foreign NGOs is established in such a global format and on a huge scale. Civil society is already feeling the unique opportunities that COP29 has given to Azerbaijan,’ Chairman of the Board of Azerbaijan National NGO Forum Ramil Iskanderli stated, APA reports.
He said that members of the Azerbaijan National NGO Forum closely participated in the establishment of this cooperation: “Everyone is trying to contribute to this process as much as possible.”
Ramil Iskanderli said that there are 3 groups of organ
izations with observer status at the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The first of them is the United Nations system and its specialized bodies, the second is intergovernmental organizations, and the third is NGOs. Currently, 3,631 NGOs have observer status under the UNFCCC. About 90% of these organizations are united in 9 Constituencies. These includes ENGO (Environmental groups), BINGO (Business and industry), WGC (Women and gender), RINGO (Research and academic institutes), Farmers (Farming and agriculture), TUNGO (Labour unions), YUNGO (Youth and children groups), LGMA (Local governments and municipal authorities) v? IPO (Indigenous populations): ‘3 Informal Groups (Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs), Education, Communication and Outreach Stakeholders (ECOs) and Parliamentarians) also exist. Also, Disability Caucus is also considered as that Informal Group. Certain groups of NGOs are not members of any Consensus Group and operate separately.”
R. Isk
anderli noted that Azerbaijan National NGO Forum is interested in close cooperation with 9 like-minded groups, including informal groups: ’36 NGOs in the COP29 NGO Coalition are representatives of Constituencies. NGOs included in 5 of the 9 Like-minded Groups are currently included in the Coalition. This gives a clear picture of the scale at which the Coalition can operate. Global discussions of these organizations with NGOs from developing countries ensure inclusiveness. 68 of the foreign NGOs in the coalition are from developing countries.’
He also touched on the topic of the announcement of the Competition ‘International Initiatives related to COP29’ for NGOs by the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Azerbaijan, jointly with the Agency for State Support to Non-governmental Organizations: ‘This means that it is possible for local NGOs to implement a joint project related to COP29 together with foreign NGOs. It was announced that organizations with UNFCCC observer status participat
ing in this competition as foreign partners would be preferred to be from developing countries, especially least developed countries and developing small island countries. This clearly demonstrates how sensitive and caring the state of Azerbaijan is to the issue of inclusion. We also want the voice of civil society organizations from all over the world to be heard at COP29. We think that the NGOs in the coalition will actively participate in this competition.’
The Chairman of the Board of the Forum added that Azerbaijan’s strong defense of the interests of the developing countries is also welcomed by the world: ‘In my opinion, this topic started during Azerbaijan’s chairmanship of Non-Aligned Movement for 4 years. It was a very useful platform, it created better conditions for Azerbaijan to see the problems of the world. Back in 2023 – during the period of chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement, Azerbaijan urged the world to provide support the small island states for solving post-pandemic difficulties, an
d allocated financial resources for this purpose. Small island states look at Azerbaijan with great hopes. From the statements made by the officials, we understand that Azerbaijan is trying to form a special technical support fund for them together with the “Commonwealth” organization.’
R. Iskanderli said that the picture is clearer when viewed from this perspective: ‘Therefore, when reading the part of the announcement of the Competition ‘International Initiatives related to COP29′ for NGOs jointly by the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Azerbaijan together with the Agency for State Support to Non-governmental Organizations, where it says that priority will especially be given to the participation of NGOs from the least developed countries and developing small island countries, it becomes clear that Azerbaijan does not only make promises, but also offers financial support to countries in this category.’
Ramil Iskanderli emphasized that on July 18, a hybrid meeting of the “COP29
NGO Coalition” was held through “Zoom”, opinions were heard at the meeting, and opportunities for joint cooperation were explored in detail.
The head of Azerbaijan National NGO Forum revealed that they will prepare an appeal to the COP29 chairmanship: ‘We are aware that representatives of representatives of 9 Constituencies, which included the absolute majority of 3,631 observer NGOs within the framework of the UNFCCC at Pre-COP events, are invited to participate. In this regard, when the representatives of the Like-minded Groups are in Baku in October for “Pre-COP29” events, we would like to organize a meeting with the representatives of the Azerbaijan National NGO Forum, the initiator of the “COP29 NGO Coalition”, within the framework of this visit. We, as the representatives of the host country’s civil society, want to hear their voices as well. We hope that this appeal will not go unanswered and will give results.”
Source: Azeri-Press news agency