Washington, April 20, AZERTAC The COP29 Presidency hosted the “Dialogue on Enabling Global Action for Climate Finance” event during the IMF World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C.COP29 convened the discussions to bring together leaders from government, global financial institutions, philanthropy, and the private sector to work urgently to meet global climate goals.COP29 President-Designate Mukhtar Babayev, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, delivered the keynote address that emphasized the critical role finance plays in underpinning all climate action efforts. While acknowledging the progress that has already been made, he challenged global financial institutions to reach further in both ambition and action. “Global financial institutions are sending out positive signals that we intend to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet. And they are stepping up to their climate responsibilities with concrete action,” said President-Designate Babayev. “To unlock climate finance at greater multiples, these institutions must go further and faster. We must ratchet up our actions to the highest possible levels of ambition. We must do today what we thought was impossible yesterday.”“We are determined to do everything in our power to bring the parties together, to ensure we fulfil our past promises and to enable action to keep 1.5 ºC within reach and leave no one behind,” President-Designate Babayev added.In addition to introductory remarks from COP29 President-Designate Babayev and a closing discussion from Lead Negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev, the program included:• UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Stiell delivered introductory remarks on climate finance as the great enabler of climate action and the value of approaching climate finance with a mindset of investment and opportunity.• Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley delivered special guest remarks on the importance of placing those who will be the most affected at the center of the climate action conversation and the beneficial continuity the ‘COP Presidencies Troika’ will provide.• Director of Sustainable Finance, Industry, and Diplomacy at the Bezos Earth Fund Paul Bodnar delivered remarks concerning philanthropy’s critical role in unlocking progress on climate finance.The event, which brought together more than 100 high-level participants, also included:• Interventions from representatives of the Presidencies of COP28 and COP30. • Interventions from representatives of partners the World Bank Group, the Rockefeller Foundation, and Bloomberg Philanthropies.• Panelists from the Africa Finance Corporation, African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank, Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero and the World Bank.• Panelists from the OECD, Deutsche Bank, Bank of America, S2G Ventures, and CDPQ.Topics of discussion included IFIs and MDBs as catalysts of climate finance, the role of corporations and institutional investors in climate finance, and the impact of philanthropy in climate finance.COP29 Lead Negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev expressed encouragement from the level of consensus expressed by the event’s speakers. “We are unanimous in opinion that we must act now. The current scale of climate finance is not enough,” said Lead Negotiator Rafiyev. “The road to 1.5 ºC goes through Baku. This is not an easy problem to solve. We must build trust – between developed and developing nations, between Global South and Global North, between island and continental nations. We are committed to ensuring that COP29 will be an inclusive environment for everyone to feel that their voices are heard.” Malahat NajafovaSpecial correspondent