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UNDP to assist Azerbaijan in honoring climate change convention commitments

17 February 2017 13:44 (UTC+04:00)
UNDP to assist Azerbaijan in honoring climate change convention commitments

By Amina Nazarli

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will support Azerbaijan to fulfill its obligation under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The UNDP Baku mission and the Ecology and Natural Resources Ministry signed a Project on the Fourth National Communication and the Second Biennial Reporting under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The goal of UNFCCC, an international environmental treaty, is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent irreversible damage to our planet.

Azerbaijan reports regularly on the status of its respective actions and results. The Government has already developed and submitted to the UNFCCC its First, Second and Third National Communications in 2001, 2010 and 2016 respectively.

The newly signed project will support the country’s Government through the Ecology Ministry to continue reporting under the Convention. The project is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) with a total budget of $852,000 and has been prepared in close cooperation between the Ministry and UNDP.

The project will further advance the climate change agenda in Azerbaijan by collecting, analyzing, summarizing and presenting to the UN Secretariat for UNFCCC important information on emissions by different sectors of economy such as agriculture, energy, transport, construction, forestry and others. It will also enhance the capacity of local experts in application of modern data collecting and analyzing techniques and methodologies.

UNDP Resident Representative Ghulam Isaczai, commenting on the issues, highlighted the importance of this cooperation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

“We are the first generation that can end poverty and the last one that can avoid the worst effects of climate change. SDGs open promising doors for our cooperation and create new opportunities for more synergies. Contributing to the global cause will enhance the international standing of Azerbaijan in this field as well,” Isaczai said.

Despite emitting about 0.1 percent of the total greenhouse gasses, Azerbaijan implements projects and actions not only in climate change adaptation, but in its mitigation as well.

Azerbaijan, in accordance with the recently ratified Paris Agreement, voluntarily has taken obligation to achieve 35 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to the base year 1990 as its contribution to the global climate change mitigation efforts. In addition, Azerbaijan plans to increase the share of alternative and renewable energy sources in the country's energy balance up to 20 percent by 2020.

In late 2016, Azerbaijan joined almost 200 countries from every corner of the world to sign the Paris Agreement, committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to support “green planet”.

UNDP is the United Nations’ development agency that works in nearly 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion.

UNDP Azerbaijan has a well-deserved reputation as a long-time partner of the Government of Azerbaijan in the sphere of ecology and natural resources.

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