BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. The transition
to eco-friendly fuels in freight transport, ports, and logistics
terminals stands crucial for reducing emissions, said Khurshid
Rustamov, the UN representative in Azerbaijan, at a panel
discussion on “Pathways to Sustainable Connectivity: Efforts of
CICA & its Member States, and Regional Organizations in Asia for
Secure, Effective and Climate-Resilient Transportation Corridors”
at COP29, Trend
reports.
Rustamov emphasized the need for digitalization tools, such as
the ETR, ECMR, and common semantic standards for digitizing
multimodal data and documents, to improve the efficiency of
transport corridors and reduce emissions.
“The transition to clean fuels in freight transport, ports, and
logistics terminals will be a critical step toward achieving carbon
neutrality in this sector. This must be implemented in line with
technological advancements.
Historically, petroleum products accounted for over 99 percent
of the total energy consumption in international shipping and
freight transport. In 2022, biofuels represented less than 0.5
percent of global energy use in international shipping. To meet
carbon neutrality goals, there is a need to significantly increase
the use of low- and zero-carbon alternative fuels, including
biofuels, methanol, hydrogen, ammonia, and electricity,” he
said.
To note, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to
the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which will
run until November 22, opened at the Baku Olympic Stadium on
November 11. It is the largest event organized by Azerbaijan to
date, and the first time in the region that it is being held in
Azerbaijan.
Within COP29, the highest-level event – the summit of world
leaders on climate action – was held on November 12–13.
The main expectation from COP29 is to agree on a fair and
ambitious New Collective Quantitative Goal (NCQG) on climate
finance. The COP29 Presidency has launched 14 initiatives that
include linkages between climate action and the Sustainable
Development Goals, including green energy corridors, green energy
storage, harmony for climate resilience, clean hydrogen, methane
reduction in organic waste, action on green digital technologies,
and other topics.
In addition to being a top priority that creates the conditions
for action, creating climate finance will also help fulfill the
1.5°C pledge by bringing everyone together.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement
signed at the Rio Earth Summit in June 1992 to prevent dangerous
human interference in the climate system. The acronym COP
(Conference of Parties) stands for “Conference of Parties” and is
the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the
Framework Convention on Climate Change.
A total of 198 countries are parties to the Convention. Unless
otherwise decided by the parties, COP is held annually. The first
COP event was held in March 1995 in Berlin, and its secretariat is
located in Bonn.
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