An official opening ceremony of the 29th High-Level Meeting themed “Pathway to COP29: Sustainable and Resilient Future” was held on Wednesday here as a run-up to the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) to be hosted by Azerbaijan.

The event organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center welcomed some 100 participants.

Moderator of the event, co-chair of Nizami Ganjavi International Centre, Ismail Serageldin officially opened the meeting.

Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmet Hajiyev read out President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev’s message to the meeting participants.

Later, Ismail Serageldin, Chairman of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, was awarded the "Honorary Diploma of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan" during the event.

In his address, Serageldin reflected on the nearly 30 years since the Kyoto Protocol was signed, highlighting the significant progress made since the initial efforts to contain climate emissinos began in 1997, noting that the current era is vastly different.

Highlighting Azerbaijan's commitment to presenting COP29 in an inclusive, transparent, and fair manner, President-designate of COP29, Azerbaijan's Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Mukhtar Babayev, emphasized the importance of hearing to all opinions and find solutions that empower everyone for climate change.

Also speakers at the event included Maria Fernanda Espinosa, President of the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador, Ismahane Elouafi, Executive Managing Director of CGIAR; former Chief Scientist at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (video message), Miguel Angel Moratinos, UN Under-Secretary-General; High Representative for the UNAOC (video message), Winnie Byanyima, UN Under-Secretary-General, Executive Director, UNAIDS (video message), Tarja Halonen, former President of Finland (video message), Najat Mokhtar, Deputy Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency; Head of the Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications (video message), Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister of the UK (video message).

During the first day, discussions will be held across eight panels.

One of the panel discussions will take place in Zangilan district. The event will conclude on June 21.