Latest: Key leaders skip Cop29 as they navigate net-zero backlash
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed will attend the Cop29 climate change summit as part of a working visit to Azerbaijan. Sheikh Mohamed was welcomed by Azerbaijan's Defence Minister Vugar Mustafayev at Heydar Aliyev International Airport on Monday.
Cop29 began in Azerbaijan on Monday with the UAE handing over the presidency during the opening plenary session. The baton was passed to Cop29 President Mukhtar Babayev, Azerbaijan’s Ecology and Natural Resources Minister, who previously worked for the state oil company Socar.
Before handing over to Azerbaijan, Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, and Cop28 President, acknowledged the meeting had come at a time of “complexity and conflict” for the world. “Against this backdrop, allow me to say that we in the UAE will always choose partnership over polarisation, dialogue over division and peace over provocation," Dr Al Jaber said.
Over the next two weeks, delegates will try to thrash out a deal to help vulnerable countries transition to sustainable energy systems and defend against the effects of climate change against a backdrop of extreme weather such as last week's disastrous floods in Spain.
Sheikh Mohamed's official delegation includes Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed, Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Court for Special Affairs, Dr Amna Al Dahak, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, and Ahmed Al Sayegh, Minister of State, as well as other senior officials.
