Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Azerbaijan's capital Baku has hosted a national workshop on the economics of climate change mitigation in Central and West Asia under the technical assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The workshop held on January 27 was attended by about 35 participants from the ministries of Energy, Transport, Ecology and Natural Resources, Economy and Industry and the State Agency for Alternative and Renewable Energy Sources, civil society organizations, development partners and academia.

Addressing the event ADB Resident Representative in Azerbaijan Olly Norojono said ADB is committed to supporting the region's efforts to address climate change.

"ADB annual clean energy program, for example, has grown from about $600 million in 2005 to about $2.3 billion in 2012," he said.

The workshop was a part of a regional program aimed to estimate the cost and benefits of greenhouse gas emission reduction and to design low-carbon development investment proposals to address prioritized mitigation needs in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.

The technical assistance of the workshop facilitated by Cinzia Losseno, ADB's senior climate change specialist and a team of consultants was co-financed by ADB and the Japanese Government.

The technical assistance will help to identify policy and technologies that can be adopted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, cost effective investment options in the transport and energy sectors, and provide trainings to national stakeholders on state of the art tools for emission reduction scenarios.

Azerbaijan has significant opportunities for emission reduction investments, involving energy efficiency, renewable energy, and sustainable transport, but limited information about real mitigation potential and associated costs.

Established in 1966, the ADB is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. The bank is owned by 67 members, including 48 from the region. In 2012, ADB's assistance totaled $21.6 billion, including co-financing $8.3 billion.

Azerbaijan's share in the bank's capital is 0.5 percent.

The ADB plans to allocate around $500 million for state projects in Azerbaijan in the next three years.