Leyla Aliyeva: Environmental problems have no borders

Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.29

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Azerbaijan is a land of ancient traditions and rich history, a place that sits at the crossroad between East and West, where Eastern wisdom and Western progress meet, said vice president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, founder of the International Dialogue Initiative for Protection of Environment (IDEA), Leyla Aliyeva.

She made the remarks during the round table on “Sustainable Development and Ecological Civilization” held as part of the fifth Baku International Humanitarian Forum.

“In the days gone by, Azerbaijan was a major center on the historic Silk Route.

This had a major impact on our culture, making Azerbaijan a country that at its heart believes in tolerance, new ideas and dialogue,” added Aliyeva.

“This unique geographic position of Azerbaijan also had an impact on our landscapes,” she said. “Our country is a place of wonderful snowcapped mountains, sharp cliffs, rivers, deep forests, meadows, and lowlands.”

“In fact, it is believed that we have 9 out of 11 climate zones in Azerbaijan, giving us a very rich biodiversity which I hope you will able to see during your stay in our country,” noted Aliyeva.

“Please allow me to speak today as a representative of civil society, on behalf of youth and passionate environmental activists,” she said.

“We all know that governments carry out the primary responsibility for the protection of environment, but without active civil engagement, especially youth, it is impossible to ensure sustainable development,” said Aliyeva.

“Therefore, in 2011, we have launched IDEA – the international campaign for dialogue and environmental action. Our intention was to educate and invite youth not only in Azerbaijan, but also around the world to protect the nature. Our slogan speaks for itself ‘One Earth and future’,” she said.

“We try to carry out all our projects in a creative, artistic and optimistic way,” said Aliyeva.

“Over the past five years, we have achieved many positive results such as planting more than 5 million trees, protecting the endangered species, organizing lectures, classes and exhibitions to raise the awareness,” she added.

Further, Aliyeva pointed out that the roundtable “Sustainable development and ecological civilization” addresses an emerging and very important issue to the whole international community.

“We all know that ecology and civilizations are two contradictory terms as civilizations have been undermining the global ecology for thousands of years,” she said. “As a result, today we are in a situation when the survival of the whole planet is under the threat.”

“However, emergence of “ecological civilization” concept demonstrates that more people are aware of this situation and are willing to act in order to protect our environment,” Aliyeva noted.

“Regardless of our race, religion, traditions and beliefs, we all live on the same planet and have common future – environmental problems have no borders,” she said. “They threaten all the countries, and only working together and supporting each other, we can achieve positive results.”

Aliyeva said that unfortunately, today, in a lot of cases, mankind not only neglects the nature, but also intentionally destroys it.

“Our planet is in great danger and the time is working against us. The survival of many species and whole ecosystem are under the threat,” she added.

“Our losses are now counted not by years, but minutes. As we speak here, every 15 minutes an elephant dies at the hands of poachers and as many as 11,000 sharks are killed by humans every hour,” said Aliyeva.

She pointed out that over 50 percent of world’s biodiversity is gone.

“Bit by bit, we are approaching time when all our species become extinct, all forest and green life disappears,” said Leyla Aliyeva. “This is why, I believe that although it is very important to carry out discussions and debates, now it is the time to act, take strong decisions and actions!”

“Of course, we can only achieve success by remaining optimistic and not losing hope,” she added.

Leyla Aliyeva noted that last year, the international community made a historic breakthrough and finally agreed to stand together, hand-in-hand against the environmental degradation.

“I was fortunate to personally engage in the negotiation process and witness the birth of the Paris agreement,” she added.

Apart from these, the international community recorded massive tangible achievements in conservation and sustainable development - enlargement of protected areas all around the world, decrease of poaching and illegal trade of animals, switch to eco-friendly technologies, enhancement of renewable energy, promotion of recycling and many more, according to Aliyeva.

“I am very happy about the recent news that due to enormous efforts of our fellow environmentalists, the panda population has increased and it is not “endangered” anymore,” she added.

“In Azerbaijan, we have achieved similar success with regard to gazelles. It was five years ago that we launched a conservation project to protect and increase the population of gazelles. At that time, we only had few hundreds of them. After years of hard work, their numbers have increased to 6,000,” said Leyla Aliyeva.

“Now, we are working hard on a project to protect the highly endangered Caucasian leopard and Caspian sturgeon,” she added.

“Allow me now to make a few remarks in my capacity as the goodwill ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,” said Aliyeva.

“FAO is striving to make our generation, the Zero Hunger Generation, however still today 125 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance,” she said.

“Moreover, 93 percent of people living in extreme poverty are in countries that are either fragile or vulnerable to environmental risks,” said Aliyeva. “This is not only a humanitarian crisis; it is also a crisis of development. It cannot be solved by humanitarian action alone, but through a comprehensive and coherent approach.”

She noted that FAO supports member countries in prioritizing their national goals and targets in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2030.

In this context, FAO’s ultimate goal is to maintain investment and engagement at all levels, in supporting sustainable agricultural development and livelihoods, contributing to economic growth and helping to underpin stable, peaceful and inclusive societies, according to Leyla Aliyeva.

“We must work together, and try hard to ensure a world where no child dies from hunger, malnutrition, environmental impact or lack of water, a world without inequalities and discrimination, and a world where all amazing creatures of nature have the chance to survive and flourish,” she added.

“Only together, hand in hand, we can achieve these goals and make the world a better place to live,” said Leyla Aliyeva.

“Once again, welcome to Baku and I wish every success to all of you,” she added.

“Once again I would like to thank all of you for your time and your attention. Our organization is always open to new ideas, projects and challenges. I believe that each one of us can make difference in protecting our planet, but working together with positive attitude, hope and believe can and will save our planet. I wish you all a great stay, lots of love, health and happiness,” said Aliyeva.