A seminar titled “SDPI’s Response To COP28: From Consensus To Realization” organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) was held in Islamabad. Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri, Executive Director, SDPI proclaimed that a win-win mindset is most crucial for effective climate change negotiations. He said that the commitment to transition away from fossil fuels is a yet welcome decision and hoped that the government of Azerbaijan will follow the footsteps of UAE government and will continue to build this momentum on fossil fuel transition ultimately leading to fossil fuel phase out. He said that this decision will open new avenues for investment, technology development, global stock take and greater global cooperation.
He said that world governments mobilized US$30 Trillion to combat COVID19; same spirit is needed to combat the climate pandemic too. Following individual personal interests might enable countries to become climate smart but will not last long and only Win-Win approach can be effective in the long-run.
Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Pakistan, Mr. Khazar Farhadov addressing the session said that climate action cannot move forward without economic development which underlines key role of private sector in driving economic growth. This calls for the governments to develop policies in consultation with the private sector. Shedding light on the impact of conflicts on the environment, he said that Azerbaijan aims for a clean environment realizing the grave environmental impact of conflicts experienced by Azerbaijan. He informed that government of Azerbaijan has termed 2024 “Green World Solidarity Year” and plans to increase the share of renewable energy by 30% and inhibit greenhouse gas inhibition to 35% by 2040 and 40% by 2050.
The deliberations of the seminar resulted in various key policies to be implemented as long-time as well as short-time strategies to deal with the monstrous issue of climate change.