A conference on “Accelerating climate action through cooperation on water, energy, food and ecosystems” was held in Baku within the framework of COP29.
According to AZERTAC, the Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, Umayra Taghiyeva, who spoke at the event, stated that climate changes are increasingly affecting water, food and the ecosystem, and one of the most common problems we face in the context of climate changes it is water scarcity. He noted that since the countries of the world share water resources, no country can overcome this problem alone. “Shared water resources must be managed together. This will improve not only the environment, but also the well-being of people. The COP29 presidency has launched the Baku dialogue on water for climate action. This will be very useful for our sustainable future. We invite everyone to regional cooperation, knowledge and resources, I invite you to share,” said the vice minister.
Viorel Gutu, regional representative of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Agency (FAO) for Europe and Central Asia, stated that 730 million people face hunger in the world during his speech at the round table on “Perspectives of regional cooperation”. In his words, it is expected that in 2050 the world population will reach 10 billion inhabitants and, therefore, food production should more than double. According to the FAO official, if nature is not used sustainably, it will not be possible to prevent the crisis.
The Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe, Dmitri Mariyasin, said in his speech that unexpected climate crises are already occurring in the world and that the global water cycle is being disrupted. According to him, this has a negative impact on the supply chain and the ecosystem. The executive secretary added that these problems will increase in the future and highlighted that climate change will cause scarcity of water for drinking and agriculture. In this sense, he pointed out the importance of adopting water laws at the national level and cooperation at the international level.
Bruno Pozzi, deputy director of the Ecosystems Division of the United Nations Environment Programme, Stefan Uhlenbruck, director of hydrology, water and cryosphere at the World Meteorological Organization, spoke about the importance of regional cooperation and joint management of watersheds.
At the ongoing panel discussion on “Results of Intersectoral Cooperation”, officials from Germany, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Brazil noted the importance of intersectoral cooperation in solving food and water problems and shared their experiences.
