The Baku Initiative on Climate Finance, Investments, and Trade (BICFIT) was launched during COP29’s Finance, Investments, and Trade Day, marking a new effort to bolster climate goals through innovative global collaboration.
The BICFIT dialogue, a key initiative of COP29’s presidency, is set to be implemented in partnership with UNCTAD, UNDP, WTO, and the International Trade Centre. The event featured contributions from international organizations, multilateral development banks, climate funds, and global think tanks, supporting the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement.
Azerbaijan's Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov emphasized the initiative's significance for promoting climate-oriented trade policies, particularly for developing countries. The BICFIT dialogue aims to attract foreign direct investment, enhance climate finance capacities, and foster institutional partnerships for a sustainable transition.
Leading partners, including UNCTAD’s Rebeca Grynspan and UNDP’s Achim Steiner, delivered opening remarks. The session, moderated by Tim Cheston of Harvard’s Growth Lab and Patricia Ellen da Silva of Aya Coalition, featured speeches from WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, ITC Executive Director Pamela Coke-Hamilton, and IFC Executive Director Makhtar Diop.
Participants from various sectors discussed innovative approaches to integrating climate finance, investments, and trade policy, emphasizing the need for coordinated international cooperation to align climate actions with sustainable development goals. Ministers from Morocco, Egypt, UAE, Brazil, and Australia voiced strong support for the initiative.
COP29 Chief Negotiator Yalchin Rafiev underscored the broad representation and collaborative discussions as evidence of the need for a multi-sectoral and multilateral approach to climate challenges. The BICFIT platform is expected to facilitate knowledge exchange, promote climate investments, and accelerate project development aligned with climate objectives.
The event concluded with the adoption of a Joint Declaration on the BICFIT Dialogue by past, current, and future COP presidents, highlighting the commitment to fostering global partnerships for a green transition.
Politics
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As part of the OSCE Foreign Ministerial Council meeting in Malta today, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with civil society representatives from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Ukraine.
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The Chair of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights, Mounir Satouri, has called on Azerbaijan’s authorities to lift travel restrictions on Professor Qubad Ibadoghlu, currently under house arrest, enabling him to attend the Sakharov Prize award ceremony in Strasbourg.
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The Separate Combined Arms Army (stationed in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic) conducted command-staff exercises.
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The Council today decided to prolong and update the list of individuals, entities, and bodies subject to restrictive measures against serious human rights violations and abuses, for a further year until 8 December 2025.
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