Bangladesh鈥檚 chief adviser professor Muhammad Yunus is scheduled to leave for Baku, Azerbaijan on Monday to attend the UN鈥檚 biggest climate conference COP29, which is seen as a 鈥榩ivotal opportunity鈥� to accelerate action to tackle the climate crisis.
Global leaders and diplomats from across the world will descend on the capital Baku for the annual climate summit to discuss how to avoid increasing threats from climate change in a place that was one of the birthplaces of the oil industry.
Prof Yunus will be leading a small delegation and will return home on November 14, a senior official at his office told media.
The 29th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is taking place from November 11 to 22.
Environment, forest and climate change adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan, who will be attending the COP29, stressed the urgent need for global unity in tackling climate change.
It was in Baku where the world鈥檚 first oil fields were developed in 1846 and where Azerbaijan led the world in oil production in 1899.
Sandwiched between Iran in the south and Russia in the north, Azerbaijan is on the Caspian Sea and was part of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1991.
Nearly all of Azerbaijan鈥檚 exports are oil and gas, two of the world鈥檚 leading sources of planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions.
With global temperatures hitting record highs, and extreme weather events affecting people around the globe, COP29 will bring together leaders from governments, business and civil society to advance concrete solutions to the defining issue of time.
A key focus of COP29 will be on finance, as trillions of dollars are required for countries to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect lives and livelihoods from the worsening impacts of climate change.
The conference will also be a key moment for countries to present their updated national climate action plans under the Paris agreement, which are due by early 2025.
