COP29 Presidency launched today the "Baku Call for Climate Action for Peace, Relief, and Recovery" in collaboration with the UAE, Egypt, Italy, Germany, Uganda, and the United Kingdom.
The initiative aims to address the urgent relationship between climate change, conflict, and humanitarian needs, bringing together an unprecedented partnership of both global North and South countries.
The "Baku Call" Platform
The Baku Call initiative establishes the "Baku Center for Climate Action and Peace," a cooperative platform designed to facilitate collaboration between national, regional, and international peace and climate initiatives. The initiative's goal is to ensure climate action for peace while expanding support and funding for the most vulnerable countries facing climate change, which are also impacted by conflict and high humanitarian needs.
This initiative responds to the growing recognition that the negative impacts of climate change—such as water scarcity, food insecurity, land degradation, and human displacement—can act as catalysts for conflict and instability, particularly in regions most vulnerable to climate change.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov launched the call during a high-level seminar titled "Climate and Peace: Empowering Joint Action to Leave No One Behind," which marked the opening of the Peace, Relief, and Recovery Day at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The event brought together ministers and government envoys from a wide range of countries from both the global North and South to develop strategies aimed at expanding support for countries facing both climate challenges and conflict with high humanitarian needs.
UAE, an Active Partner
Over the past six months, through multiple rounds of consultations, the COP29 Presidency, in collaboration with lead partner countries—the UAE, Egypt, Italy, Germany, Uganda, and the United Kingdom—has developed concrete, solution-oriented responses based on climate and peace initiatives advocated by previous COP Presidencies.
The Baku Center for Climate Action and Peace will serve as a coordination platform to meet commitments for addressing challenges related to peace and climate.
The "Baku Call" Center
COP29 will host the Secretariat of the "Baku Call" Center in Baku, where the center will work to strengthen cooperation and enhance joint climate action through ongoing peace and climate initiatives, such as the Climate Response Initiative from COP27 for Sustainable Peace (CRSP), the COP28 Declaration on Climate, Relief, Recovery, and Peace (CRRP), the Germany-led Climate for Peace (C4P) initiative, and the Italian Matisse Plan for Africa’s Climate Dimension to meet the needs of countries vulnerable to climate and conflict.
The Baku Call for Climate Action for Peace, Relief, and Recovery emphasizes global commitments and offers innovative recommendations addressing critical issues such as water scarcity by promoting sustainable water management practices, food insecurity through climate-resilient agricultural solutions, and land degradation by supporting land rehabilitation and ecosystem restoration.
The Baku Initiative and Support for the Most Vulnerable
COP29 President Muktar Babayev stated that the Baku Call emphasizes the importance of climate action for peace, with a focus on supporting the most vulnerable groups, including women, children, and youth, who bear the brunt of these intersecting crises.
He added that the development of the Baku Call was an inclusive process, informed by consultations with a wide range of international partners, think tanks, governments, UN agencies, development banks, civil society organizations, and the private sector. It represents an opportunity to collectively enhance commitments for climate action for peace while increasing support for the world’s most vulnerable communities.
