Juraj Droba, ECR Vice-President and President of the Bratislava region, was the ECR delegate at COP29 that took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, as part of the European Committee of the Regions' delegation.

During the event, Mr Droba held several bilateral meetings with national delegations, including the German, the Greek and the Polish to discuss possible inter-regional cooperation in preventing natural disasters and seeking opportunities for economic investments in green technologies. Additionally, Mr Droba was speaker at the "Sustainable Innovation Forum" on "Getting there: Making transport smarter, cleaner, faster". He was also invited to speak at an event organised by the Scottish Government on "Developing Subnational Leadership on Climate Finance".

The main messages that Mr Droba defended were that when it comes to decarbonisation, each region must be able to develop strategies that "align with its strengths and address its specific challenges" and that in the long run, "transitioning to a low-carbon economy should not be seen as an obstacle to economic growth, green measures should not disrupt economic productivity".

In the energy sector, there can be serious disruptions, especially in the short-term. In this regard, the ECR Vice-President called for the energy transition to be coupled with market policies that account for regional disparities, particularly between the North and South. "It is essential that policies are designed to ensure that no one is left behind", he added.