A Regional Planning Meeting was held in Ankara, the capital of Türkiye, on the margins of the United Nations Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Global Climate Fund (GCF).

Leyla Jabbarli, Deputy Chairperson of the Agro Credit and Development Agency; Yashar Karimov, Deputy Head of the International Relations Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources and Shams Huseynova, Representative of the Climate Diplomacy Department operating under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, attended the meeting.

The event brought together representatives from the South Caucasus, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, experts from international organizations and representatives of donor agencies.

The main objective of the Ankara meeting is to discuss new financial opportunities within the framework of the GEF and GCF, align regional and national initiatives, and further expand cooperation between partner countries.

During the first two days of the event, Leyla Jabbarli addressed various panels, providing detailed information to participants from over 15 countries about Azerbaijan’s priority areas in climate, digitalization, and agriculture.

The event participants shared their views on the management of chemical substances and waste, the reduction of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), and measures to combat drought and arid land degradation. They emphasized the importance of future funding for these areas by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Green Climate Fund (GCF), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).