Yalchin Rafiyev: International financing must be expanded to provide people with housing

Providing people with climate-resilient housing is directly linked to the global climate agenda and requires expanding international financing mechanisms.

Report informs that Azerbaijan's Deputy Foreign Minister Yalchin Rafiyev said this at an event held as part of WUF13 in Baku.

In his opinion, providing people with affordable housing is not an abstract political issue, but a fundamental human rights concern.

He believes that equal access to quality living conditions reduces social inequality, while shortages in this area can trigger growing social tension and internal instability in states.

Rafiyev noted that modern residential buildings must be constructed with climate risks taken into account, but a lack of financial resources seriously hinders this process.

"At COP29, we managed to build bridges between countries to adopt a consensus decision on the new collective quantified goal," he said.

He explained that the approved target of $300 billion in financial support will allow countries in need not only to implement adaptation measures, but also to build resilient homes.

The diplomat noted that the COP29 Presidency consistently defended the equal importance of climate change mitigation and adaptation measures, since the most vulnerable regions are also facing an acute housing crisis.

In his opinion, carbon markets, whose launch is envisaged under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement agreed in Baku in November 2024 at COP29, could become an effective source of financing for low-carbon urban planning.

According to Rafiyev, processes within COP and WUF should be closely coordinated. He recalled that Azerbaijan had proposed the Baku Continuity Coalition initiative, which brings together the presidencies of both global platforms.

"In the future, we can focus the attention of these presidencies on means of implementation and financing in order to prepare recommendations for the international community," the deputy minister said.