On July 24-25, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population, the International Labor Organization (ILO), Azerbaijan Trade Unions Confederation and National Confederation of Entrepreneurs (Employers) Organizations of the Republic of Azerbaijan jointly organized the “COP29 Climate Discussion: The Road to COP29” series. A seminar was held on “Promoting a gender-sensitive and fair transition towards environmental sustainability in the Republic of Azerbaijan”.
The agenda of the seminar included panel discussions on joint activities with social partners in the process of preparing for COP29, preparation of a joint position document on the labor market, gender equality in activities related to climate change, giving special importance to ensuring inclusion, sharing best international practices and knowledge-experience exchanges. The event was attended by government officials, representatives of international organizations, entrepreneurs and trade unions, local and international experts.
At the opening of the seminar, Deputy Minister of labour and social protection of population Anar Aliyev stressed the importance of a sensitive and fair approach to gender principles and inclusion in the processes towards environmental sustainability, emphasizing the negative effects of climate changes, which are one of the global problems. In November this year, Azerbaijan will host the 29th Session of the Conference of parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29). It was noted that COP29 will play an important role in mobilizing the international community for improvements in the fight against climate change. The importance of the ILO project aimed at promoting gender-sensitive fair transition through the exchange of knowledge and experience to support countries in the process of preparing for COP29 was brought to the attention.
It was emphasized that the current seminar, organized jointly with the ILO, serves to strengthen the joint efforts of entrepreneurs and trade unions and other stakeholders to contribute to COP29, as well as to promote social dialogue for the preparation and sharing of experiences for this most prestigious global event.
Vladanka Andreyeva, the resident coordinator of the UN in Azerbaijan, Javanshir Alkhasov, the deputy chairman of the Azerbaijan Trade Union Confederation, Ziya Hajili, the adviser to the president of the National Confederation of Entrepreneurs (Employers) Organizations of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and the Regional Office of the ILO for Eastern Europe and Central Asia for Enterprise Development and Green Jobs Chief specialist Kristina Martinez made a speech and emphasized the importance of the topic covered by the seminar and the importance of knowledge and experience exchange in this topic.
On the second day of the event, government officials, representatives of international organizations, trade unions and entrepreneurs’ organizations, local and international experts participated with concrete initiatives.