COP29 CEO: Women suffer most from impacts of climate change

COP29 CEO Elnur Soltanov has said that women suffer more from the impacts of climate change related to water resources.

Soltanov made these remarks at the conference entitled "Water and Gender Equality" in Baku, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

He pointed out that the consequences include rising sea levels, the drying up of the Caspian Sea and Lake Urmia, diminishing freshwater resources, droughts, floods, and hurricanes.

According to some estimates, up to 90 per cent of climate change impacts affect people, nature, and living organisms through water, he stated. 

He also noted that women's roles in political processes addressing water issues are relatively weak, as they play a lesser part in decision-making. Women are among those most affected by climate change.

Soltanov remarked that men tend to work in higher-paying sectors of the economy, while women are often confined to household work, which is more labour-intensive but lacks monetary value. 

“This work is harder but is not monetised,” he highlighted. 

He added that women are responsible for drinking water, cooking, cleaning, and sanitation at home. In case of natural disasters, more women die because they swim worse than men and can not climb trees. 

The 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) will be held in Azerbaijan this November. This decision was made at the COP28 plenary session in Dubai on December 11, 2023. During two weeks, Baku will become a global hub, welcoming around 70,000 to 80,000 international guests. 

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an agreement signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, aimed at preventing dangerous human interference with the climate system.  The abbreviation COP means "Conference of the Parties" and refers to the highest decision-making body responsible for overseeing the implementation of the UNFCCC.

The Convention has 198 member states. Unless otherwise decided by the parties, the COP is held annually. The first COP event was held in Berlin in March 1995, and its secretariat is based in Bonn.

By Naila Huseynova