UAE President Sheikh Mohammed to Attend COP29 as Part of Azerbaijan Visit
UAE President Sheikh Mohammed will attend the Cop29 climate summit as part of a visit to Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan’s Defense Minister Vukhar Mustafayev welcomed Sheikh Mohammed on his arrival at Heydar Aliyev International Airport on Monday.
Cop29 kicked off in Azerbaijan on Monday, handing over the presidency of the United Arab Emirates at the opening meeting of crucial climate talks. The baton is Cop29 leader Mukhtar Babayev, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, 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 Chairman, acknowledged that the meeting had come at a “complex and conflictual” time for the world. “In this context, allow me to say that we in the UAE will always choose peace over polarization, dialogue over division and provocation,” he said.
Over the next two weeks, delegates will try to hammer out an agreement to help countries vulnerable to extreme weather events such as last week’s devastating floods in Spain transition to sustainable energy systems and protect against the effects of climate change.
Sheikh Mohammed’s official delegation includes Dr. Amna Al Shamsi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment; Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Court for Special Affairs; and Ahmad Al Sayekh, Minister of State and other senior officials.