Azerbaijan will host the World Urban Forum (WUF13) and World Environment Day, said Anar Guliyev, Chairman of the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture of the country, at the High-Level Opening on Multilevel and Multisectoral Climate Action at COP29 in Baku, AzVision.az reports.

He expressed Azerbaijan’s pride in being chosen to host the WUF13 in 2026 and announced the country’s readiness to establish an institute for a Special Envoy on Climate Action in Urbanization, which marks a practical step towards advancing climate action.

He also highlighted the creation of the Baku Continuity Coalition.

"I am also pleased to announce the establishment of the Baku Coalition for Continuity. We are grateful to our partners from Egypt, the UAE, Brazil, and UN-Habitat for supporting this initiative. The creation of this coalition sends a powerful message that the future of our cities depends on collaboration, innovation, and shared responsibility," he added.

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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