The ministerial meetings in Baku included discussions on plans for offshore wind farms in the Caspian Sea and participation in global methane emissions reduction efforts.
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00:00 I think the performance of the countries with fossil fuels must be judged by how they address
00:08 the issue of environmental protection, how they address the issue of green transition.
00:20 Azerbaijan, a land where Eastern Europe meets Western Asia.
00:25 It's home to over 10 million people with half of them being based in bustling Baku, set
00:30 on the Caspian Sea.
00:32 The country is rich in oil and natural gas resources and has hosted the 10th Southern
00:37 Gas Corridor and second Green Energy Advisory Council ministerial meetings.
00:44 High on the agenda was discussion about the expansion of the corridor, a crucial route
00:49 of gas supply diversification for the EU and its neighbouring countries.
00:55 We started to build this partnership between countries, between companies, inviting leading
01:02 international financial institutions to support us with their financing.
01:08 And 3,500 kilometre long pipeline is now a reality.
01:16 Azerbaijan last year increased their gas exports by 9%, up to 22 billion cubic metres.
01:23 Currently their main buyers in Europe include Italy, Greece, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria.
01:30 There are many new partner countries who are willing to receive even additional volumes
01:38 of natural gas despite the fact that we are transitioning away from fossil fuels, but
01:44 this takes some decades.
01:47 Now we want to establish also the future proof cooperation.
01:52 And that collaboration as well as transition to green and renewable energy was also discussed
01:57 as President Aliyev called for a change in the narrative when judging countries with
02:02 fossil fuel.
02:03 We do it not because we lack traditional resources but because we want to contribute using the
02:11 financing, using the revenues which we get from oil and gas sales to invest in renewables
02:17 and to create a common understanding about the need for that.
02:24 It's a sentiment that has EU backing.
02:27 A couple of years ago European Union launched a global methane pledge and this is exactly
02:33 to cut methane emissions which is second most potent greenhouse gas from the oil and gas
02:39 industry and Azerbaijan joined this pledge last hop so this shows that they are behaving
02:46 responsibly and on top of that with all these offshore development plans they can replace
02:53 domestic electricity production.
02:56 And the use of wind farms in the Caspian Sea looks set to play a pivotal role in the green
03:01 transition.
03:03 Energy is a cross-border thing.
03:05 Take Azerbaijan, they want to build lots of offshore wind farms in the Caspian Sea.
03:11 They won't consume that energy themselves, they'll send it through a new power cable
03:16 that will be built across the Caucasus under the Black Sea into Europe.
03:21 This is international cooperation, you can only do things like this when the governments
03:27 come together and they come together with the industry who's going to build it.
03:31 SoCAR, the state oil company of the Republic of Azerbaijan is already implementing strategies
03:37 to accelerate lower carbon solutions and decarbonization technologies.
03:43 We all understand that oil and gas industry will continue to provide a very vital, sustainable
03:51 and reliable, in a sustainable way, reliable energy and help us to basically transition
03:57 to cleaner sources of energy.
03:59 You know that carbon border adjustment mechanism starts to penalize the exporters or importers
04:05 into EU starting from 2026, fertilizers are there.
04:09 So we'd like to explore the opportunities of decarbonizing our production of fertilizers
04:15 as well.
04:16 President Aliyev was also passionate about the wider effects of climate change as the
04:21 country prepares to host this year's COP29.
04:24 We see the implication and dangerous implication of the climate change, less water in our rivers,
04:32 less snow in our mountains, less water in the Caspian Sea.
04:37 And if we don't address this issue with passion and with a commitment, then all of us will
04:45 suffer.
04:46 So renewable projects agenda of Azerbaijan is very ambitious.
04:50 An ambitious plan indeed for Azerbaijan and the wider global energy industry.
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