Azerbaijan participated in the kick off meeting of the G7 Water Coalition

The kick off meeting of the G7 Water Coalition was held on June 27, 2024. Azerbaijan was invited to the event as the host country of COP29.

Recognizing the importance of water for sustainable development, peace, and prosperity, and the need for concrete action, the G7 countries put forward the idea of establishing the G7 Water Coalition at the G7 Climate, Energy and Environment Ministers' Meeting held in Turin on April 28-30, 2024, and the initiative was subsequently endorsed by the leaders of the states at the G7 Summit in Puglia.

Thus, water experts from the G7 countries, as well as Italy's Minister for Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, and Deputy Minister Vannia Gava, participated in the kick off meeting.

In his opening speech, Minister Fratin expressed his special gratitude to Azerbaijan for hosting COP29 and stressed the importance of joint efforts to combat climate change and biodiversity loss. Noting the importance of sustainable management of solar and water energy, the Minister said that even countries with large water resources face great difficulties, the need to keep the water issue on the agenda, developing countries, especially those located on the African continent, need support, and called for joint action.

Following the Minister's speech, V.Gava emphasized the importance of preparing a global action plan for sustainable development and stability, not just for clean water and sanitation (SDG 6). He outlined the goals of the established coalition as promoting a multi-sectoral approach to sustainable water supply, creating necessary legal instruments, consolidating resources, combating pollution, reducing drought and water scarcity, increasing potential commitments, integrating water management, and achieving equity in this process.

Then, the floor was given to Rashad Aslanov, the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Italy. The Ambassador outlined the priorities of the COP29 presidency, the challenges facing the world, and summarized the first five global initiatives announced by the COP29 presidency at the Bonn Climate Change Conference held in Bonn earlier in June.

The following officials were also among the speakers: Laura D'Aprile, Head of the Italian G7 Environment Working Group; Alessandro Guerri, Director General for International and European Affairs at the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security; and Martina Bussettini, National Coordinator for Italy for the G7 Water Coalition.