"The latest UNEP assessment warns that keeping the 1.5°C limit within reach is becoming increasingly difficult. Heatwaves, droughts, floods, wildfires, and water scarcity are already a daily reality. Climate change is no longer something people only experience through scientific reports. We see it, we feel it, and we are paying an increasingly high price for it."

Operativ Media reports that Mukhtar Babayev, the Azerbaijani President's representative on climate issues, said this during the Fourth Climate Week (CW4) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

In his speech, the minister pointed out that natural disasters cause severe human and economic losses:

"Over the past decades, nearly 12,000 weather, climate, and water-related disasters have claimed more than 2 million lives and caused over $4.3 trillion in economic losses. Developing countries need more than $300 billion annually for adaptation by 2035, while international financial flows represent only a small fraction of what is needed. Global military spending is approaching $3 trillion annually, whereas every dollar invested in sustainable infrastructure can yield about four dollars in return."**

The minister emphasized that COP29, hosted by Azerbaijan, was a historic step in global climate decision-making:

"For Azerbaijan, the climate change agenda is at the highest level of political focus. Under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan took on the responsibility of hosting COP29 at a challenging time for international cooperation. Expectations were high, and trust was low. However, in Baku, the Parties demonstrated that major climate decisions are still possible."