Baku Initiatives - Antalya Continuation - Photo

The COP31 climate summit in Antalya continues the work begun at COP29 in Baku. The focus is on the implementation of previously adopted decisions, climate financing, and green energy.

As the newspaper "Caspian" writes, the annual COP climate summit has long since transformed from an environmental event into an important political occasion. Discussions here cover not only environmental topics but also energy, investments, transport, and financial aid — in other words, everything that one way or another affects economic development and relations between states and is ultimately linked to the state of the environment.

For Azerbaijan, the summit in Antalya is important primarily as a continuation of COP29 initiatives and an opportunity to engage partners in addressing Caspian issues. The significance that Baku attaches to this work was underscored by the participation of President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva. They arrived in Turkey on November 10 at the invitation of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan — just two days after his visit to Azerbaijan.

On November 11, during the opening of the COP31 Leaders Summit, the Turkish president specifically noted the role of Azerbaijan and Brazil in preparing the conference. And behind his words lies truly significant work: Azerbaijani consultants helped the Turkish team prepare the conference from the very beginning, drawing on the experience of COP29.

Our goal is to save the Caspian

It should be noted that one of the main topics on Azerbaijan's agenda was the shrinking of the Caspian Sea. Part of the national pavilion's exposition is dedicated to its ecosystem, which was separately visited by Vice President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva. As is known, since the mid-1990s, the sea level has dropped by approximately two meters. The water is receding, altering coastal ecosystems and complicating port operations and shipping. For Azerbaijan, which counts on growing transportation through the Caspian, this means additional expenses for maintaining ports and sea routes. But even more dramatic changes are occurring in the water body's unique ecosystem. It is no coincidence that the symbol of the pavilion became the Caspian seal — a species found nowhere else. While its population numbered about one million at the beginning of the 20th century, according to a 2024 study published by NCOC, it was approximately 278 thousand. The decline in numbers was caused by years of hunting, death in fishing nets, and sea pollution. Today the species is under threat of extinction. An additional danger is posed by the reduction of ice cover in the northern Caspian,