BAKU, Azerbaijan, July
24. The third Informal Shamakhi Meeting of climate
negotiators was held in Azerbaijan's Shamakhi on July 22–23 under
Azerbaijan's organization and hosting, in cooperation with Türkiye
and Australia, the co-presidents of COP31.
According to Azerbaijan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the
meeting brought together more than 70 representatives from 34
countries and the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Participants included ministers, deputy ministers, climate
envoys of heads of state, chairs of UNFCCC negotiating groups,
heads of delegations of Parties to the Convention, and other senior
officials.
As in previous years, discussions focused on key issues on the
international climate agenda, including climate finance, just
transition, climate adaptation, greenhouse gas emissions reduction,
the COP31 Presidency agenda, and the "Belém 1.5 Mission" under the
Troika mandate of the COP29, COP30 and COP31 presidencies.
The meeting also featured an informal exchange of views on the
outcomes of the 64th session of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies held
in Bonn in June, ways to address the main challenges identified
during those negotiations, and their potential contribution to
decision-making at COP31 in Türkiye.
Opening and closing sessions featured remarks by Azerbaijan's
Deputy Foreign Minister and COP29 Lead Negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev,
COP31 Chief Executive Officer and Türkiye's Deputy Minister of
Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Fatma Varank, and
COP31 Deputy President for Negotiations Sally Box. Video messages
from Azerbaijan's Presidential Representative on Climate Issues
Mukhtar Babayev and COP30 Chief Executive Officer Ana Toni,
Brazil's National Secretary for Climate Change, were also presented
at the opening ceremony.
The ministry noted that the Shamakhi Meeting has become one of
the key events in the annual COP calendar. Its informal format
allows climate negotiators to engage in open, transparent and
result-oriented discussions, helping facilitate consensus on
decisions expected to be adopted at upcoming COP conferences.
Participants expressed support for establishing the Shamakhi
Meeting as a permanent platform. Ethiopia, which will host COP32 in
2027, also announced its readiness to co-organize the fourth
Shamakhi Meeting with Azerbaijan in July next year.
