State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Tsuge Yoshifumi has received the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Lead Negotiator of COP29 Yalchin Rafiyev, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Japan noted, Ednews reports.

It was noted that the meeting took place on February 27.

"State Minister Tsuge welcomed Azerbaijan's important role as the Presidency of the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) this year and expressed his expectations for its leadership. He also welcomed Azerbaijan's participation in the ‘Informal Meeting on Further Actions against Climate Change’ which begins on February 29 and expressed his hope that this meeting provides a meaningful exchange of views for the success of COP29," the Japanese Ministry stated.

According to the Ministry, during the meeting, Yalchin Rafiyev appreciated Japan's positive contributions in the field of climate change and stated that Japan is a very important cooperating country. Both sides affirmed that Japan and Azerbaijan continually work together for the success of COP29.

Both sides also exchanged views on bilateral issues: "State Minister Tsuge stated that Azerbaijan is an important partner of Japan that holds the key to international energy security and regional stability and development. Mr. Rafiyev stated that cooperation with Japan in various fields is progressing and that the two countries would continue to cooperate closely, and the two sides concurred to work together to further strengthen Japan-Azerbaijan relations."

Note that Japan and Brazil have been hosting the Informal Meeting on Further Actions against Climate Change (commonly known as the Japan-Brazil Dialogue) in Tokyo every year since 2002. The objective of the meeting is to have discussions in frank and informal manner among chief negotiators and other officials from various countries.