Conditions for cooperation on climate change have become more difficult compared to 10 years ago.

Operativ Media reports that Mukhtar Babayev, the Representative of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Climate Issues, said this during his speech at a high-level roundtable organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center as part of Baku Climate Action Week.

He noted that when the Paris Agreement was adopted, the main goal was to build consensus around a common global direction. However, the pandemic, conflicts, energy crises, inflation, and rising geopolitical competition have significantly changed the situation in the world.

Mukhtar Babayev stated that climate action should not compete with national priorities, but rather become part of how countries implement their own priorities.

According to him, the energy transition must strengthen energy security and accessibility, adaptation measures must protect economies, infrastructure, and communities, and climate-resilient agriculture must contribute to food and water security.

“COPs can set direction and build political momentum, but COPs do not build power grids. They do not finance sustainable infrastructure or deploy technologies. These are implemented through national policies, investment decisions, financial institutions, and businesses,” Babayev emphasized.

He added that the key question now is not whether the COP process is needed, but how this process can drive more action beyond COP.

“The next test of climate leadership will not just be our ability to reach an agreement. The main test will be our ability to turn the agreements reached into real results,” Babayev noted.