At Cop29 bridges must be built between the diverging north and south to keep 1.5C in reach | Mukhtar Babayev

Re-establishing trust between developed and developing nations is essential if our goals are to be achieved

• Mukhtar Babayev is Azerbaijan's minister for ecology and natural resources and the president-designate of Cop29
• Newly elected leaders to be held to same climate obligations, says Cop29 chief

Last year was a double first: in 2o23, both electric vehicle usage and worldwide electricity generation from coal reached new heights. Increased electricity demand and energy-disrupting conflicts in Europe and the Middle East played their part. But it is a stark reminder that meeting 1.5C obligations requires clean energy consumption and production to shift together, and that we must find mechanisms to guard against further interruption of both by future geopolitical events.

This can start at Cop29 in Azerbaijan. We must break for good the stop-start of Cop agreements so there is follow-through from one to the next. This began last month with the launch of the Cop Presidencies Troika, ensuring Azerbaijan will be the bridge in decision-making and implementation from the leadership of the 28th summit in UAE through to the 30th in Brazil next year. This rolling mechanism will ensure the summits themselves transition away from staging grand announcements to a platform for continuity through monitoring and implementation.

Mukhtar Babayev is Azerbaijan's minister for ecology and natural resources and the president-designate of Cop29