A side event dedicated to the role of the private sector in the COP29 Presidency Baku Initiative for Climate Finance, Investment, and Trade (BICFIT) was held in New York on 27 September 2024 within the framework of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and New York Climate Week. The event was jointly organized by the UN High-Level Climate Champion, the COP29 Presidency Action Agenda Global Initiatives Team and the Nizami Ganjavi International Center.

In the opening session, COP29 UN High-Level Climate Champion Nigar Arpadarai, and Elmar Mammadov, Senior Negotiator and Co-Leader of the COP29 Presidency Action Agenda Global Initiatives Team shared valuable insights into the BICFIT initiative.

The event featured two panels, including one titled “Climate Finance, Investment, and Trade Nexus: Global, Regional, and National Platforms”, moderated by Juan José Martinez Badillo, Head of the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) New York Office. Esteemed panellists included María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador; Sudharshan Canagarajah, Practice Manager of Strategy and Knowledge on the Climate Change Group of the World Bank; Mahmud Mohieldin, former Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund, former Minister of Investment of Egypt and UN Special Envoy on Financing the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, as well as Tomoyuki Kimura, Senior Advisor to the President of the Asian Development Bank. They engaged in a constructive exchange of views and highlighted BICFIT as a timely, innovative and much-needed global initiative.

The second panel, moderated by Thomas Beloe, Head of UNDP Sustainable Finance Hub, focused on “Ensuring Inclusive Climate Finance”. Panellists included Gianpiero Nacci, Head of Climate Strategy at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development;Dr Jean Baderschneider, member of Board of Directors, Fortescue Metals & Fortescue Future Industries; Laura Mandro, Head of Sustainability at Veritas Group; Noam Unger, Director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in the US, and Matt Eldridge, representative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. They discussed the crucial role of innovative approaches to climate finance and the global decarbonization process, as well as constructive global dialogue on these issues, highlighting the significant potential of the BICFIT Initiative in driving these efforts.

During the Q&A sessions on both panels, active discussions continued, with participants emphasizing that the essence of this global initiative lies in integrating climate finance, investment, and trade for the first time, and which could become a key legacy of the COP29 Presidency.

At the conclusion of the event, the organizers highlighted that the prominent name in the literature world, the great Azerbaijani poet and thinker Nizami Ganjavi, promoted key messages through his poems back in the 12th century which are still very important for our planet today - “On earth, in society, between people and nature, should reign harmony and consent, otherwise humanity will destroy itself”. They mentioned that the Nizami Ganjavi International Center’s co-organization of this event was no coincidence, and that COP29 Presidency BICFIT Initiative aligns with this long-standing vision. This side event was part of a multistakeholder consultation process on BICFIT.