General director of the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnologies academician Irada Huseynova, PhDs in biology Durna Aliyeva, Samira Rustamova, Ulduza Gurbanova, and Aytan Aghayeva participated in panel discussions on “The role of marine mammals in marine ecosystem health and climate change mitigation” within the framework of the cooperation of IDEA PU and "Great Whale Conservancy" organization within the framework of the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29).

At the event, Leyla Aliyeva, the vice-president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the founder and head of IDEA (International Dialogue for Environmental Action) Public Association, spoke about the importance of sea creatures in terms of ensuring ecological balance and climate stability and emphasized the role of whales, the world's largest mammals, in reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and brought to the attention of the panel participants that the population of Caspian seals has decreased by almost 6 times compared to the beginning of the 20th century.

In the continuation of the panel discussion, Michael Fishbach, founder and director of Great Whale Conservancy, and Tariyel Eybatov, general director of the Hasanbey Zardabi Natural History Museum, explained to the event participants the importance of various sea creatures, including whales and seals, for the marine ecosystem and the impact of water pollution on the environment.