The third informal Shamakhi Meeting of negotiation group chairs and delegation heads from United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) member states was held in the Azerbaijani city of Shamakhi on July 22–23. The event was organized and hosted by Azerbaijan in partnership with Turkey and Australia, which are co-chairing COP31.

Operativ Media reports, citing Azerbaijan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

More than 70 delegates representing 34 countries and the UNFCCC Secretariat attended the meeting. Participant delegations included ministers, deputy ministers, presidential climate envoys, heads of UNFCCC negotiation groups, and other senior officials.

In line with previous editions, the Shamakhi Meeting focused on key priorities on the international climate agenda, including climate finance, just transition, adaptation, greenhouse gas mitigation, the COP31 Presidency work plan, and the "Mission 1.5 to Belem" initiative under the COP Presidencies Troika mandate (COP29, COP30, and COP31). 

Delegates held informal discussions reviewing the outcomes of the 64th session of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies held in Bonn in June, exploring ways to resolve key negotiating challenges, and assessing how these discussions could contribute to decision-making at COP31 in Turkey.

The opening and closing ceremonies featured addresses by Yalchin Rafiyev, Azerbaijan's Deputy Foreign Minister and COP29 Lead Negotiator; Fatma Varank, CEO of COP31 and Turkey's Deputy Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change; and Sally Box, COP31 Vice-President for Negotiations. The opening session also featured video messages from Mukhtar Babayev, Climate Representative of the President of Azerbaijan, and Ana Toni, CEO of COP30 and National Secretary at Brazil's Ministry of Environment and Climate Change.

Now an important fixture on the annual COP calendar, the Shamakhi Meeting offers a unique informal setting for climate negotiators to hold open, transparent, and result-oriented discussions. This format facilitates agile solutions to negotiation bottlenecks ahead of upcoming COP summits.

Participants voiced support for establishing the Shamakhi Meeting as a recurring platform. Representatives from Ethiopia, which will host COP32 in 2027, expressed readiness to co-organize the fourth Shamakhi Meeting alongside Azerbaijan next July.