Azerbaijan plans to expand its existing bus fleet and fully electrify it by 2030, said Rashad Nabiyev, Minister of Digital Development and Transport, at a high-level roundtable on "Greening Urban Transport" at COP29, Olaylar reports.

"Azerbaijan is set to expand and fully electrify its bus fleet by 2030. As part of its mobility program, several central streets in Baku have been closed to vehicles and designated exclusively for pedestrians. In addition, the government has implemented measures such as VAT and customs duty exemptions to promote the use of environmentally friendly vehicles. These strong incentives have resulted in a nearly twofold increase in the share of electric and hybrid vehicles among imports, boosting the figure from 10.5 percent to almost 20 percent of total vehicle imports," he said.

To note, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which will run until November 22, opened at the Baku Olympic Stadium on November 11. It is the largest event organized by Azerbaijan to date, and the first time in the region that it is being held in Azerbaijan.

Within COP29, the highest-level event - the summit of world leaders on climate action - was held on November 12-13.

The main expectation from COP29 is to agree on a fair and ambitious New Collective Quantitative Goal (NCQG) on climate finance. The COP29 Presidency has launched 14 initiatives that include linkages between climate action and the Sustainable Development Goals, including green energy corridors, green energy storage, harmony for climate resilience, clean hydrogen, methane reduction in organic waste, action on green digital technologies, and other topics.

In addition to being a top priority that creates the conditions for action, creating climate finance will also help fulfill the 1.5°C pledge by bringing everyone together.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Rio Earth Summit in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference in the climate system. The acronym COP (Conference of Parties) stands for "Conference of Parties" and is the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change.

A total of 198 countries are parties to the Convention. Unless otherwise decided by the parties, COP is held annually. The first COP event was held in March 1995 in Berlin, and its secretariat is located in Bonn.