BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 14. Climate change has become a threat not only to the environment, but also to the economy, food security, and health, the Representative of the President of Azerbaijan for Climate Issues, Mukhtar Babayev, said, Trend reports.
He made the remark during the 1st General Assembly of the Global South NGO Platform, held as part of “Baku Urban Planning Week.”
“Climate change is no longer just an environmental issue. It has become a challenge for water availability, food security, healthcare, migration, economic stability, and even regional security,” Babayev said.
According to Babayev, the World Meteorological Organization has recognized 2024 as the hottest year on record, while the past decade was the warmest in modern history.
Moreover, he noted that over the past 50 years, the number of weather-related disasters worldwide has increased roughly fivefold, resulting in economic losses exceeding $4.3 trillion.
Babayev also highlighted that around 3.6 billion people now live in regions highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and nearly half of the world’s population experiences severe water shortages at least part of the year.
