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A lecture on “Climate Change and Global Warming” was attended within the framework of “A Series of Lectures on Global Perspective” at ADA University, March 16.

The event was attended by Azerbaijan’s First Lady, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, UNESCO and ISESCO Goodwill Ambassador Mehriban Aliyeva, Vice-president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, founder and head of IDEA Public Union Leyla Aliyeva, President of the Engineering Academy of Azerbaijan (EAA), rector of the National Aviation Academy, academician Arif Pashayev, MPs, ambassadors of foreign countries, and students of the ADA University and other higher schools of the country.

Saying “Global warming is among the priority areas causing all countries to contemplate”, deputy foreign minister of Azerbaijan, rector of ADA University Hafiz Pashayev noted that this issue has always been approached at the education establishment he has been heading as a pressing issue. The rector said wide research works are being carried at the university in connection with environment and energy issues.

Giving brief information about ADA University’s activity, Hafiz Pashayev underscored Azerbaijan’s rich energy resources. He said the university’s primary ideology is to protect the country’s resources, the environment, and show sound approach towards it. The rector brought to attention that the university has been active in tree-planting campaigns too, to contribute to protection of the environment.

Roald Sagdiyev, well-known scientist for cosmic research, professor of ADA University’s information technologies and engineering faculty, who was giving a lecture on “Climate change and global warming”, recalled a successful summit dedicated to climate change, which took place last year in Paris. The scientist noted that the Paris Summit does not guarantee that we will meet the targets set to prevent global warming in full. It was mentioned that global warming is causing some difficulties for the development of civilization all over the world. Therefore, in order to prevent global warming, volume of CO² released into the atmosphere should be reduced. The scientist also underscored that a great deal of works have been done in order to reduce the volume of CO² released into the atmosphere even in some countries with large industrial cities. Saying “Volume of CO² released for the past 650 thousand years has never been as high as we see today”, Roald Sagdiyev said amount of CO² released into the atmosphere has doubled for a short term – last decades. The scientist added that Azerbaijan is not listed among the hundred world countries essentially contaminating the environment. This is a very rejoicing fact.

Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Huseyngulu Baghyrov noted that the government of Azerbaijan fully complies with obligations undertaken before international organizations and its country. The minister emphasized that significant works were carried out at the time of national leader Heydar Aliyev towards protecting the environment, and this ecological policy has been successfully continued by President Ilham Aliyev.

H. Baghyrov said after starting to implement Azerbaijan’s oil strategy, multiple increase was seen in the economy. Taking this into account, a clean ecology policy started to be implemented in Azerbaijan. The minister brought to attention that Azerbaijan has set a target to sharply reduce the volume of oil and gas release into the environment by 2020. Saying greenery planting actions in the country have covered wide areas recent years, H.Baghyrov noted that tree planting works are continuing in Baku and Absheron Peninsula, as well as along highways.

The minister also recalled significant projects implemented in Azerbaijan with the support of IDEA Public Union and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. He noted that in the South Caucasus, Azerbaijan and Georgia are having close cooperation in ecology, but Armenia has been constantly contaminating Kur River.

Leyla Aliyeva addressed the event.

Saying “It is every person’s duty to love and take care of the nature”, Leyla Aliyeva emphasized that IDEA Public Union has implemented a number of projects towards protecting the environment:

- It is impossible not to love nature. Humans and nature are the most precious things we have. You have probably read much about our projects. We have been engaged in planting trees. Recently, our young volunteers have planted over 4 million trees. I know you have planted trees together with thirty people. Thank You for that.

We have been trying to prevent endangered animals from dying out. Of course, hunting is a worldwide practice. This is acceptable and even, sometimes, helpful. However, animals entered on the Red List should not be killed, they should be protected. To this end, we have been conducting an active promotion campaign, explaining and talking. What is most significant is thinking about it. We have had projects for reintroduction of gazelles. One of the most significant projects for me is preserving the Caucasian leopard.

Saying “Nature has no time to wait. We have to do it now”, Leyla Aliyeva expressed confidence every human being could contribute to preserving the environment. Appealing to the youth, IDEA’s head said the Public Union was open to everyone.

Then professor Roald Sagdiyev was asked questions about climate change and global warming.

President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva asked an interesting question: “Dear academician Sagdiyev, I wonder, whether or not You believe in the existence of a platform that would be capable of preventing the peril facing the whole planet? Do You think possible developing any ethical mechanisms to apply in the struggle against other calls that we mention with regret and the humankind is facing today, and this peril? Or, this is a nice and utopian idea? Thank you.”

Thanking for the question, professor Roald Sagdiyev said: “This is a very profound topic. Probably, the optimist and the pessimist would answer this question differently. I even heard such an idea with regard to approaching this issue that it is very likely that to convince majority of people with well-substantiated scientific and practical arguments would be impossible. Probably, there would be needed something more to keep the humankind alive, besides integration of people. Some people say this could be an ecological religion, a religion of soil, nature, which form the bedrock of our thinking. At one of the conferences in 1989, I was a guest of famous Robert Redford. He arranged and held the first conference on global warming. Robert Redford had invited heads of the Indian tribes living close-by. The head of an Indian tribe said if people understood the wisdom of their ancestors, they would guess that we have not inherited these lands from our ancestors, we have borrowed them from our future generations.”

Other questions too were answered at the event.