The Global Summit of Religious Leaders on the margins of COP29
(Baku, November 5-6, 2024)
Overview
Azerbaijan is well-known for its traditions of tolerance, multicultural values and inter-civilizational and inter-religious cooperation.
Over the recent years, Azerbaijan has initiated and hosted series of events of international significance that promoted inter-civilizational and inter-religious cooperation. At the initiative of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan H.E. Mr. Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan hosted World Forums of Intercultural Dialogue, Baku International Humanitarian Forums, summits of world religious leaders, the VII Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations, as well as the Baku International Conference on “Religions and Intercultural Cooperation” aimed at developing inter-civilizational dialogue.
This once again demonstrated Azerbaijan’s unyielding commitment to contribute to mutual trust, unity and harmony and to advance international interreligious and inter-civilizational cooperation, and traditions of multiculturalism worldwide.
The Global Summit of Religious Leaders on the margins of COP29
In November 2024, Azerbaijan will host the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29). Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our times, threatening the planet, lives and the livelihoods of billions.
Religious and interfaith platforms are essential to promote dialogue among civilizations, raise awareness and foster understanding of common challenges and the ways to tackle them.
In the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Azerbaijan, The State Committee on Affairs with Religious Associations of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and the Muslim Council of Elders and the Caucasus Muslims Board will organize the Global Summit of Religious Leaders on November 5-6, 2024, in Baku under the auspices of His Excellency Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
The summit, which will be held under the slogan "World Religions for a Green Planet", will be a great opportunity for academicians, politicians, religious figures, representatives of religious, public and international organizations and many others to discuss global climate issues and serve as a wake-up call against devastating implications of global warming at the national, regional and international levels.
It aims to highlight the importance of inter-civilizational and interreligious relations in fostering mutual trust, unity and harmony, and working collectively in the face of the threat of the climate change. The deliberations will also contribute into global peace agenda by calling on for global efforts to put an end to armed conflicts, extreme violence, acts of ecocide and urbicide, which hamper collective efforts to fight climate change by causing food insecurity, destroying natural sinks and reservoirs and degrading soil and water basins, among others.
The opening ceremony of the event is expected to be attended by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev.
The Summit will be attended by over 300 religious and faith leaders, representatives from foreign countries, high-ranking UN officials, heads of international organizations, prominent world religious figures, scholars and religious figures.
Suggested topics for presentations:
- "The view of religions and faiths on the climate change crisis and its implications for the planet, lives and the livelihoods”;
- "The role of religious and faiths organizations in promoting green future and raising awareness on and combatting climate change";
- "Combatting climate change through inter-religious and inter-civilizational dialogue";
- "The armed conflicts, extreme violence, acts of ecocide and urbicide as harming the environment and hampering global response to climate change".
Working languages of the forum: Azerbaijani, English, Russian, Arabic, Turkish, French.