Transitioning towards sustainable future: Azerbaijan's commitment to green energy [COMMENTARY]

Azerbaijan's commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2050, as announced at COP29, reflects the country's dedication to combating climate change and transitioning towards a more sustainable future. This voluntary commitment aligns with global efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change and achieve the objectives set forth in international agreements such as the Paris Agreement.

To achieve this ambitious goal, Azerbaijan will likely implement a combination of strategies across various sectors of its economy.

But first of all, it is important to find answers to several questions about the feasibility of achieving this goal. To find answers to the questions, we turned to Rashad Hasanov, an expert on economics.

R. Hasanov stated to Azernews that achieving results in this direction depends more on the policies that the government will pursue in the future.

"If we were to analyse the statistical figures, we would see that over the past 20 years, compared to the 1990s, there has been a decrease in emissions from gas that actually creates a warming effect, until approximately 2010, which could be attributed to a weakening of economic activity. However, in subsequent periods, the process has been going in the opposite direction."

According to him, based on the data for the year 2021, the emissions of gases that create a warning effect amount to 58 million tons.

"Azerbaijan's commitment has been set compared to the 1990s, which means that by 2050, this indicator should decrease by up to 47 million tons. Looking at the structure, approximately 10 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions should decrease. However, when we look at the structure of emissions, we see that the main source is precisely the energy sector, the oil and gas industry, and a decrease can be created in this direction, especially due to a certain fundamental decrease in oil production. However, it should be noted that in order to achieve the overall result, it is very important to diversify the economy, apply innovative technologies in this direction, and address other issues. In other words, the government can achieve results by implementing comprehensive measures here."

"The government should support initiatives aimed at the implementation of as many green technologies as possible and promote this. Only in this case, and with positive changes in the direction of obtaining real results in diversifying the economy's structure, the country can achieve these results by 2050," Hasanov concluded.