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COP29 Debrief on relevant outcomes and looking ahead to COP30


COP29 Debrief on relevant outcomes and looking ahead to COP30
07 February 2025
10:00 - 17:00 hrs. VII, Building A
Palais des Nations, Geneva
, Switzerland

The 29th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 11 November to the early hours of 24 November 2024.

Progress was achieved in several critical areas, paving the way for further advancements at COP30 in Brazil. This event will discuss key takeaways, with particular attention to development considerations, and how these outcomes can be built upon in 2025 and beyond.

The event will consist of three panels: the first two focusing on relevant outcomes at COP29, namely around climate finance, trade and investment; while the final panel will reflect on 2025’s key moments and COP30. More information on the final agenda will be shared soon on this page.

Objective

The meeting is intended to provide delegates of Member States, international organizations and UNCTAD staff members with an overall understanding of the results of COP29 and to indicate priority areas and topics for potential future activity of UNCTAD, including for COP30 in Belem, November 2025. 

Possibility to join online.

Confirmed speakers include:

  • Ms. Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary General, UNCTAD
  • H.E. Ambassador Wael Aboulmagd, Egypt
  • H.E. Ambassador Mattias Frumerie, Head of Delegation, Ministry of Climate and Enterprise of Sweden
  • H.E. Dr. Abbas Kadhom Obaid, Chargé d'affaires of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Iraq to the United Nations in New York and Group of 77 Chair, Iraq 
  • H.E. Guilherme de Aguiar Patriota, Ambassador, Permanent Representative to the WTO
  • Mr. Cristóbal Melgar Pazos, Minister, Deputy Permanent Representative and Chargé d'affaires for Peru, G77 and China Chair in Geneva
  • H.E. Yalchin Rafiyev, COP29 Lead Negotiator, Azerbaijan
  • Mr. Elmar Mammadov, Co-Leader of the COP29 Presidency Action Agenda Global and Regional Initiatives Team, Head of Economic Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Azerbaijan
  • Ms. Chandni Raina, Climate negotiator, Ministry of Finance, India
  • Ms. Dileimy Orozco, Independent Advisor on sustainable finance
  • Mr. Zhenyu Chen, Director of the Mineralogy Department, Institute of Mineral Resources, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences
  • Mr. Vitor Mattos Vaz, Trade and Climate Advisor in Brazil’s Division for Climate Action, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Brazil
  • Ms. Aiping Chen, Special Assistant to the Senior Director, Programmes Coordination, UNFCCC
  • Ms. Faten Aggad, Executive Director, Africa Future Policies Hub
  • Mr. Cherno Marenah, Deputy Head of Mission, Permanent Mission of the Republic of The Gambia to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva
  • Mr. David Bailey, Head of Global Climate Finance Department, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, UK
Rebeca Grynspan
Secretary-General
UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

Rebeca Grynspan, of Costa Rica, became UNCTAD's eighth Secretary-General on 13 September 2021 and is the first woman to lead the organization.

Prior to her UNCTAD appointment, she was the Ibero-American secretary-general from 2014 to 2021, also the first woman to head the organization. During her mandate, she has coordinated the 22-member Iberoamerican Conference and led four key summits of Heads of State and Government. 

In 2010 she was appointed Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and prior to that was UNDP Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean.  

Prior to joining the United Nations, Ms. Grynspan served as Vice-President of Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998. She was also Minister of Housing, Minister Coordinator of Economic and Social Affairs, and Deputy Minister of Finance. In 2021 she was named Special International Advisor to the newly created Economic and Social Council of Argentina and invited to join as member of the G20 High-Level Independent Panel on Financing the Global Commons for Pandemic Preparedness and Response.

In addition to her experience as a lecturer and advisor to several international organizations, she has been actively involved in key United Nations initiatives, such as the Millennium Project's Task Force on Poverty and Economic Development and the High-level Panel on Financing for Development.  

In 2014 and 2015, she was recognized as one of the 50 leading intellectuals of Latin America.  And she was recognized as one of the 100 most powerful women in Central America by Forbes magazine.

Ms Grynspan holds a degree in Economics by the University of Costa Rica and a MSc in Economics by the University of Sussex. She has been awarded a Doctorate Honoris Causa by the University of Salamanca, the University of Extremadura and the European University of Madrid in recognition of her outstanding professional achievements. 

Mattias Frumerie
Ambassador, Head of Delegation
Ministry of Climate and Enterprise of Sweden

Mattias Frumerie is Sweden’s Climate Ambassador and Head of Delegation to the UNFCCC. Previous roles in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs include Head of Strategic communications, Head of EU Single market and Head of EU policy, as well as postings in Budapest and Brussels. Ambassador Frumerie has also served as EU advisor in the Prime Minister’s Office.

Wael Aboulmagd
Ambassador, assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Climate, Environment and Sustainable Development Department.
Egypt

Career Diplomat with over 30 years of service in the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with extensive experience in multilateral diplomacy and institutions. He currently serves as assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Climate, Environment and Sustainable Development Department.

Areas of specialization include Public International Law, Human Rights Law, United Nations practice and procedures, Democratic transitions and Constitutional Law, International Environmental Law and practice. 

Guilherme de Aguiar Patriota
Ambassador
Permanent Mission of Brazil to the World Trade Organization in Geneva

Guilherme de Aguiar Patriota as Permanent Representative of Brazil to the World Trade Organization and other economic organizations based in Geneva. 

He was previously the Consul General of Brazil in Tokyo (2021-2023) and Consul General of Brazil in Mumbai (2019-2021). Mr. Patriota served as the Special Representative of Brazil to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva (2018-2019), and before that the Deputy Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva (2015-2018). A career diplomat since 1983, he has been a delegate of Brazil accredited to the Organization of American States in Washington from 1990 to 1994, the Latin American Integration Association, in Montevideo from 1994 to 1997, the Embassy of Brazil in New Zealand from 1997 to 2000, the Delegation of Brazil to the WTO and the World Intellectual Property Organization, in Geneva from 2005 to 2008, and was twice posted at the Permanent Mission of Brazil to the United Nations in New York from 2008 to 10 and from 2013 to 2015. He was International Advisor to the Brazilian Minister for Science and Technology from 2003 to 2004 and Deputy Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of the Republic from 2010 to 2013.
 

Yalchin Rafiyev
COP29 Lead Negotiator
Republic of Azerbaijan

Yalchin Rafiyev is the Lead Negotiator for COP29 Azerbaijan.

Mr. Rafiyev serves as Deputy Foreign Minister and has worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for almost two decades. He has served in multiple roles to advance multilateral diplomacy, including as Third and Second Secretary at the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the UN Office in Vienna and the First Secretary at the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the UN Office in Geneva.


He has led the International Security Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan for some five years. Mr. Rafiyev holds an Honours degree from Baku State University and has completed post-graduate programs at the NATO Defense College and the International Anti-Corruption Academy.
In his role as Lead Negotiator, Mr. Rafiyev will work with the 198 Parties to the UNFCCC to build consensus and refine potential landing zones for the negotiations based on a shared vision of success, all within a fair and transparent process.

Elmar Mammadov
Co-Leader of the COP29 Presidency Action Agenda Global and Regional Initiatives Team, Head of Economic Cooperation Department
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Elmar Mammadov holds a master's degree in International Affairs from the Geneva Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID), a master's degree in Legal Regulation of the Economy from the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and a bachelor's degree in Public and Municipal Administration from the Baku Institute of Social Administration and Political Sciences.

He is an experienced diplomat who held various positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2001 to 2017. During this time, he served as a trade diplomat at the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the UN Office and other International organizations in Geneva, as well as at the Embassies of Azerbaijan in Switzerland and France. Following his tenure in the Ministry, he worked as a senior adviser responsible for a green agenda in the Administration of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan from 2017 to 2024.

Currently, he leads the economic cooperation department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is a co-leader of the COP29 Presidency’s Action Agenda Team, overseeing global and regional initiatives. 

Faten Aggad
Executive Director
African Future Policies Hun (AFPH)

Faten Aggad is the Executive Director of the African Future Policies Hun (AFPH), a technical support and advisory hub serving primarily the public sector in Africa on the green and digital economy based in Nairobi. Previously she served as a Panel Member of the African High-Level Panel on the Reforms of the Multilateral System, Senior Advisor on Climate Diplomacy and Geopolitics at the African Climate Foundation, Senior Advisor to the African Union High Representative on future relations with the European Union supporting African countries and the African union in negotiations with the European Union. She has experience working for multiple think tanks as well as multilateral agencies. 

Abbas Kadhom AlFatlawi
Chargé d'affaires of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Iraq to the United Nations in New York

Dr. Abbas Kadhom AlFatlawi, a career diplomat, joined to the Iraqi MOFA in 1995, he studied in Foreign Service Institute 1995-1996. assumed his position as Iraq’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in August 2023.

Prior to his current position, he served as a director of the Organizations and International Conferences Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2021 - 2023. Previously, he served as the Acting Head of the Permanent Mission of Iraq to the United Nations Office in Geneva in 2020. 2020 Member of the Advisory Committee of the Human Rights Council. From 2015 – 2019, he served as the Deputy Permanent Representative at the Permanent Mission of Iraq to the United Nations Office in Geneva. From 2013 -2015, he served as the Deputy Director of the International Organizations and Conferences Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 2002 -2003 he worked in Iraqi embassy in Nairobi -Kenya and Iraq permanent missions to the UNEP, Habitat. From 2003- 2006 he served in Iraqi embassy in Moscow - Russia. From 2006 - 2008 he was head of disarmament section in MOFA -Iraq. Dr. AlFatlawi is a recipient of a high diploma of the New Issues in Security Course (NISC) at the Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP).

He received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. on International Relations and International arrangements from Baghdad University. He joined the United Nations Fellowship for Disarmament in 2000.
Born 1965, in Baghdad - Iraq, married

Zhenyu Chen
Director of Mineralogy Department
Institute of Mineral Resources, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences

Chen Zhenyu, PhD in Geology, is currently a researcher of Institute of Mineral Resources, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Director of Mineralogy Department. He is mainly engaged in the research of genetic mineralogy, prospecting mineralogy and process mineralogy of critical metal deposits. He is also the Secretary General of Mineralogy Committee of Geological Society of China, Secretary of New mineral and mineral nomenclature Committee of Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry Society of China, Vice Chairman of the National Microbeam analysis Standardization Technical Committee. He is a member of the UN Secretary-General's Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals. 

Vitor Mattos Vaz
Trade and Climate Advisor in Brazil's Division for Climate Action

Career diplomat with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, currently serving at the Ministry’s Division for Climate Action, in Brasília. Has worked as a delegate to COP28 and COP29, focusing on trade and climate, the Paris Agreement’s Global Stocktake and Response Measures. Previously worked in the Brazilian Mission to the WTO and other Economic Organizations in Geneva, covering trade and environment.

Chandni Raina
Adviser, head of the Climate Change Finance Unit
Ministry of Finance, India

Ms. Chandni Raina is an Adviser, heading the Climate Change Finance Unit in the Indian Ministry of Finance.

She is India’s lead negotiator on climate finance in international multilateral fora such as COP/CMA and is also responsible for issues concerning the financing of climate action at the national, plurilateral and bilateral level.

She has also co-led the work of the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group in the Indian Presidency of G20 and was India’s Lead on the G20 Taskforce on Global Mobilization against Climate Change (TF-CLIMA) during the recently concluded Brazilian Presidency in 2024.

Dileimy Orozco
Independent Advisor on Sustainable Finance and Economic Governance

Dileimy Orozco is an Independent Advisor on Sustainable Finance, working to reimagine the role of finance in tackling climate change and driving transformative action. She focuses on influencing financial reforms to advance both resilience and decarbonisation. Her work spans diverse geographies, including Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Previously, she led the development finance portfolio in the COP26 Unit at the UK Cabinet Office and led the work on macroeconomics at E3G. She serves as a technical advisor to Grupo Financiamiento Climático in Latin America and contributed to the LSE-led Expert Advisory Group that designed a framework for the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action to mainstream climate considerations. Recently, she co-authored an input paper on country platforms for the G20, exploring their potential to mobilise climate and development finance.

Nan Li Collins
Director, Division on Investment and Enterprise
UN Trade and Development

Nan has over 25 years’ experience in strategic management roles both with the United Nations and the private sector across Asia, Africa, North America and Europe. She currently leads a global team in investment and sustainable finance research, policy, investment promotion and facilitation, enterprise development, and technical assistance to governments in over 160 countries. She chairs the Governing Board of the UN Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative, leads the World Investment Forum and the inter-governmental Working Group on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting.

Before joining UNCTAD, she served as the Global Director of Sustainable Investments and Innovation at UNOPS, where she led a team to promote infrastructure investments in many developing countries and co-invest with DFIs and private investors. She served as UNOPS focal point in the UN Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development.

Previously, she served as the Head of UNDP SDG Innovative Finance and as Head of South-South Cooperation and Investment at UNDP's Asia Pacific Center in Bangkok. She led a team to engage public and private investors and developed national policy dialogues and networks on SDG investment, piloted SDG-aligned funds, bonds and projects in multiple countries. She helped to position UNDP as a pioneer in the UN on sustainable investment and innovative finance. She also held positions as Policy Specialist in Capacity Development and Public-Private Partnerships in New York and Johannesburg since 2009, overseeing a regional portfolio in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Before joining UNDP, she spent about 10 years in the private sector in China and the USA, covering market entry and investment strategy, merger and acquisition, business development and sustainability. She holds a master’s degree in business administration from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and participated in the Executive Leadership program at IESE, and Finance Executive program at Tsinghua University.

Igor Paunovic
Chief of the Climate and Development Strategy Unit, Division on Globalization and Development Strategies
UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

Igor Paunovic is a senior economist with degrees from the University of Zagreb, Croatia, and the New School for Social Research, New York City, USA.

Mr. Paunovic is currently with UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) in Geneva working on issues related to global governance, climate change and development strategies, industrial and fiscal policy, South-South cooperation and regional integration. He is also Chief of the Climate and Development Strategy Unit. At UNCTAD, he earlier worked on economic challenges of the Least Developed Countries. Earlier, he was Chief of the Economic Development Unit of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean in Mexico. Before that, Mr. Paunovic worked on fiscal issues and structural reforms in Latin American and the Caribbean countries at UN ECLAC in Santiago, Chile. At the beginning of his career, he worked as an assistant professor of economics at the University of Zagreb, Croatia

Luz Maria de la Mora
Director
UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

Luz Maria de la Mora is the Director of UNCTAD's Division on International Trade and Commodities. As a former Vice-Minister for International Trade and decades of government and private sector positions, Ms. de la Mora developed a career in international trade policy, negotiation, operations, and trade promotion. 

During her tenure as Vice-Minister for International Trade of Mexico from 2018 to 2022, Ms. de la Mora led Mexico's trade and investment policy, overseeing fourteen free trade agreements with 51 countries. To bolster Mexico's development, she steered discussions in the World Trade Organization, the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement, Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, and Pacific Alliance, among others. She also coordinated policy dialogues and handled private sector consultations.

Ms. de la Mora holds a PhD in Political Science from Yale University, USA, a Master's degree in International Affairs from Carleton University, Canada, and a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from El Colegio de México, Mexico.

She is fluent in English and Spanish, and proficient in French.

Aiping Chen
Special Assistant to the Senior Director, Programmes Coordination
UNFCCC

In her current capacity, Aiping Chen provides support to the Senior Director in providing strategic direction and oversight in relation to the work of the Programmes department, comprised of the four Programmes divisions, ensuring strategic, substantive, and administrative coherence and synergy in the delivery of their work programmes, including in relation to the established intergovernmental processes and constituted bodies, as well as providing coherent support for implementing mitigation and adaptation action enabled by the provision and mobilization of means of implementation while ensuring transparency of action and support.

Prior to her current position, she had been working on various areas of climate change for seventeen years, including as Regional Director of the Global Center on Adaptation China Office.She directly supported the UNFCCC Executive Secretary for engagements and involvement in the United Nations management system, including advising the UNSG on climate change issues, especially intergovernmental processes.

Cristóbal Melgar Pazos
Minister. Deputy Permanent Representative and Chargé d'affaires a.i.
Permanent Mission of Peru to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva
Studies: Economics at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, International Relations and Management at the Diplomatic Academy of Peru. 
 
Positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: departments of APEC, Central America, Ecuador, Integration, Japan, Cultural Promotion; offices of Finance, Foreign Service and Planning and Budget. Decentralized Office in Iquitos.
 
Positions abroad: Embassies in Colombia, Portugal and Switzerland; Consulates in Bogotá, Caracas and Madrid; and the Permanent Representation in Geneva (economic affairs).
Cherno Marenah
Deputy Permanent Representative
Permanent Mission of the Republic of The Gambia to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva
David Bailey
Head of Global Climate Finance Department
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, United Kingdom

David has been Civil Servant for nearly fifteen years, starting out briefly in the Department for Communities and Local Government before making his way over to the Department for International Development and now the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. His current role is as the Head of the Global Climate Finance Department which covers UK International Climate Finance as well as our work on reforming and improving access to global climate finance.  Previous roles have including working on nutrition, youth, civil society and a three-year posting in Zimbabwe.    

Sponsor / funding:
Climate Emergency Collaboration Group (CECG), Open Society Foundations (OSF)

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