BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 13. As
part of COP29 in Baku, Trend News Agency proudly presents COP for
Hope, a special project offering an unparalleled platform to hear
from world leaders and trailblazers in politics, economics,
science, and ecology, all united by a shared commitment to
addressing today’s pressing climate challenges.
Today, we are honored to speak with
Francesco La Camera, Director-General of the
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
In an exclusive interview with Trend, La Camera said that COP29, under the
Presidency of the Republic of Azerbaijan, provides another key
opportunity to bring the world back on track to deliver a just and
equitable energy transition, in line with the goals of the Paris
Agreement.
“This includes the adoption of a New Collective Quantified Goal
for climate finance to support developing countries in tackling the
climate crisis,” he said.
La Camera believes the main expectations could naturally be
reaching an agreement on the financial goal — not because it would
yield an amount sufficient to fully support the transition, but to
send a political signal that there is the will to take meaningful
action for the developing world.
“COP is a moment where the political momentum is built for
something.
COP has its own nature. It’s a moment where countries come together
to exchange experience and come up with what they recommend or they
commit or they pledge that we are going to do in the month after
the COP is over,” said La Camera.
Concerning IRENA, he said the organization has the initiative
like the Transition for Advanced Platform, the Accelerated
Partnership for Renewables in Africa.
“It’s the fourth time that I am here in Baku this year. We have
been preparing and launching together with the Troika, meaning the
presidencies of COP29, COP28, and COP30, our tracking reports.
“We also launched the World Energy Transitions Outlook. It is
our flagship report where we are globally speaking on the
transition and dealing with technology, policies, socio-economic
benefits,” he said.
IRENA’s director-general pointed out that the tracking report is
very timely and is the result of the collaboration with
Azerbaijan.
The report says that the agreement of a New Collective
Quantified Goal for climate finance at COP29 will be vital for
enhancing financial support for climate action, as well as
inspiring ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions.
Nationally Determined Contributions in 2025 (NDC 3.0) must more
than double existing renewable energy targets, which fall 5.8 TW
short of the 2030 tripling goal, and must be measurable, specific
and better aligned with national energy plans, allowing the private
sector to align with national goals to ensure a robust pipeline of
renewable energy projects, reads the report.
“Financing must be made available at better terms, especially
for emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs), by
mitigating country and currency exchange risks and delivering
broader availability of concessional finance and grants.
Governments must work to strengthen energy sector cashflows and
attract public finance in the form of government spending and
international grants.
The positive impact potential of projects (i.e. on energy
access, poverty, sustainable development and the environment) must
be embedded in evaluations for financing,” said the IRENA
report.
Further, La Camera noted that IRENA will also work on a possible
initiative for Central Asia with the leadership of Azerbaijan.
“We will work on an event where we announce the investment forum
to be organized in Baku on the occasion of the Energy Week. So,
there are many aspects of a collaboration that looks to be
fruitful” he added.
