ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari In a meeting with Mr. Mukhtar Babayev, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan and President-designate of COP 29, on Friday, emphasized the urgent need for concerted global efforts to combat climate change.
He underscored the detrimental effects of global warming and climate change on glaciers, water resources, and overall environmental stability, stressing that addressing these challenges requires international collaboration and the adoption of eco-friendly technologies.
Welcoming the Minister, the President congratulated Azerbaijan on winning the bid to host COP 29 and expressed the hope that COP 29 would result in setting the New Collective Quantified Goal on Finance that would help developing countries fulfil their climate finance needs. He highlighted that Pakistan had planted mangrove forests over hundreds of thousands of hectares that would help protect the environment, besides earning carbon credits for Pakistan.
The President said that Pakistan highly valued its relations with Azerbaijan and wanted to further expand bilateral cooperation in the areas of common interest. He called for promoting more interactions, bilateral exchanges and people-to-people contacts to further cement relations between the two brotherly countries.
Mr Mukhtar Babayev underlined the need for further enhancing bilateral cooperation between Pakistan and Azerbaijan, particularly in the area of tourism and culture. He also delivered the invitation to the President to participate in COP 29 in Baku in November 2024.
The President conveyed his best wishes for the successful hosting of COP 29 and expressed the hope that Azerbaijan would play its role to secure the interest of developing countries in meeting their financing needs for climate adaptation.
