COP29: Azerbaijan Calls for 6-Fold Energy Storage Increase by 2030

New Delhi, Sep 17 (PTI) COP29 host Azerbaijan has called on nations to commit to a six-fold increase in global energy storage capacity from 2022 levels, aiming for 1,500 gigawatts by 2030.

This proposal was outlined in a letter by President-Designate Mukhtar Babayev to all participating countries ahead of the UN climate conference in Baku in November.

In the letter to both party and non-party stakeholders, Babayev also suggested the creation of a climate action fund which would be supported through voluntary contributions from fossil fuel-producing countries and companies.

Azerbaijan has also urged nations to commit to reducing methane emissions from organic waste and lowering the carbon footprint of the tourism sector.

The COP29 Presidency said that these pledges and other commitments packaged as a non-negotiated "action agenda" will supplement the formal negotiated agenda at this year's UN climate summit.

"Successive COP Presidencies have supplemented their mandated programmes with non-negotiated action agendas, bringing together state and non-state actors, civil society, indigenous peoples, youth, and private and philanthropic organisations to achieve ambitious outcomes," Babayev wrote.

These non-binding pledges are distinct from the formal agreements negotiated under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which require extensive consensus.

At COP29 in Baku this November, countries are required to reach an agreement on the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) -- the new amount developed nations must mobilise every year starting in 2025 to support climate action in developing countries.

However, slow progress in last week's technical talks in Baku has cast doubt on the possibility of setting an ambitious new climate finance target at the conference.