Azerbaijan calls for urgent climate finance as glaciers retreat

Melting glaciers require urgent, targeted climate finance, Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Teymur Musayev said at COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye.

Report informs that Musayev made the remarks at a high-level event on glacier-related adaptation, mitigation, loss and damage, and funding for glacier monitoring. He said the effects of climate change on mountain ecosystems and glaciers remained a focus of international attention.

Musayev said mountain communities had lived in balance with nature for centuries, helping sustain water supplies for billions of people downstream. He warned that this balance was now being disrupted.

"Melting glaciers require urgent and targeted climate finance worldwide. Permafrost thaw, landslides and devastating floods are becoming more frequent," he said.

Musayev said Azerbaijan had made the challenges facing mountain regions a priority during its COP29 presidency. At the World Leaders Climate Action Summit in Baku, Azerbaijan worked with Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia to advance the mountain agenda and bring the protection of mountain ecosystems into global discussions under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The earliest official glacier records for the Gusarchay River basin date to 1890, Musayev said. Recent field observations show that the rate of melting has accelerated significantly.

"According to satellite observations by Azercosmos, glacier area in Azerbaijan"s part of the Greater Caucasus declined by 9% between 2017 and 2025," he said. He added that 19 years of research in the Gusarchay basin showed that snow cover was contributing a declining share of the basin"s water resources.

Musayev highlighted the COP29 Declaration on Water for Climate Action, adopted with the support of more than 70 countries and around 100 stakeholders, and the Baku Dialogue on Water. He said the initiatives help countries and other stakeholders coordinate efforts to protect mountain ecosystems and glaciers over the long term.

Musayev said scientific research and monitoring must be backed by adequate, long-term climate finance. He called for delivering on the Baku Finance Goal, deploying early warning systems and satellite technology, and working together to protect mountain ecosystems for future generations.