The upcoming 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) in Baku will be key to planning assistance to poor countries, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan, President of COP29 Mukhtar Babayev said in an interview with the Associated Press, Ednews informs.

The conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, must build on last year’s successful agreement to transition away from fossil fuels, noted Azerbaijan’s environment minister who will serve as conference president of the talks known as COP29 this fall. And this fall’s meeting must help pave the way for countries to come together in 2025 on beefed-up plans to clamp down on heat-trapping gases, Babayev said.

Baku is the place to find common ground on how rich countries may provide financial help to poorer nations who generally don’t contribute as much to warming but suffer more from climate change, Babayev said in a 30-minute interview with The Associated Press at the Azerbaijan embassy in Washington.

“We need to consider any possible actions or activities to bring the parties to be closer to each other,” Babayev said. “We consider Baku as a bridge between the developing and developed world.”