No:197/26, Press release on the participation of Deputy Minister Yalchin Rafiyev in the event jointly organized by the International Energy Agency and the COP31 Presidency in Paris, as well as in the event dedicated to the “International Day of Small Island Developing States (SIDS)” at UNESCO
01 May 2026 17:44
On 30 April – 1 May, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Yalchin Rafiyev was on a visit to the city of Paris, France.
Within the framework of the visit, Deputy Minister Y. Rafiyev, at the invitation of Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, delivered a speech as one of the keynote speakers at the opening session of the event entitled “IEA–COP31: High-Level Energy Transition,” jointly organized by the International Energy Agency and the COP31 Presidency.
In his speech, Y. Rafiyev provided information on COP29 initiatives in the field of energy, the preparation process for COP31, and current global challenges related to climate change.
Within the framework of the visit, a business event dedicated to 25 April — the International Day of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) was also held at UNESCO, organized by the Permanent Delegation of the Republic of Azerbaijan to UNESCO. Y. Rafiyev, speaking at the event, expressed satisfaction with the level of development of relations between Azerbaijan and SIDS and emphasized that, upon the instruction of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev, special attention is paid by our country to small island states and continued support is provided in the field of international assistance for development. He stated that, as a new direction of this cooperation, Azerbaijan is ready to provide political and technical support for the inscription of the cultural heritage of SIDS countries on UNESCO lists.
The permanent representatives of SIDS countries to UNESCO who participated in the event emphasized that the historic decisions adopted at COP29 under the successful presidency of Azerbaijan are of particular importance first and foremost for these countries, which are vulnerable to climate change, and expressed their gratitude to our country for its support in this field.
The speakers also especially emphasized the threat posed by climate challenges to the cultural heritage of SIDS countries and the difficulties faced by their countries in this field, welcomed very positively the putting forward of such an innovative proposal by Azerbaijan, and expressed their support for the initiative.
At the event, an agreement was reached on the preparation and implementation of a program aimed at addressing existing challenges in the aforementioned direction, to be jointly implemented by Azerbaijan, UNESCO and the SIDS group comprising 39 states.
Within the framework of the visit, Y. Rafiyev also met with the leadership team of Türkiye’s COP31 Presidency, and issues related to preparations for COP31 to be held in the city of Antalya were discussed.
