Latvia, Azerbaijan expanding environmental cooperation

Latvia and Azerbaijan are cooperating to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

An international webinar has been organised with the initiative of Azerbaijan’s State Commission on Climate Change and the Ministry of Climate and Energy and Latvia’s Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, the press service of the Ministry of Environment told Caliber.Az.

The event was held in line with the implementation of the two-year work programme (2022-2023) for the implementation of the "Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Environmental Protection" between the two governments.

The webinar was attended by around 40 participants from the National Hydrometeorological Service of the Ministry of Environment, as well as from the Climate Change Department, Environmental Protection Department, Forecasting and Climate Department, Geology and Meteorology Centre, Climate and Numerical Modelling Department, and other units from the Latvian side.

The event provided information on the institutional reforms and technological innovations implemented in recent years in Azerbaijan in the field of environmental protection, on the goals of creating an early warning system, as well as the implementation of an improved format of transparency in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

In particular, information on the creation of a green energy zone and the development of a hydrometeorological network in the land freed from occupation aroused the interest of foreign colleagues.

Representatives of the Ministry of Climate and Energy of Latvia made presentations on the "Climate Change Policy Framework in Latvia" and the MRV/ETF system within the UNFCCC in Latvia, while representatives of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development spoke on "Climate Change Monitoring and Climate Risk Analysis in Latvia", "Waste Information Systems in Latvia" and "Water and Waste Water Statistics in Latvia".

The participants showed keen interest in these presentations, after which the experts answered numerous questions on bridging the gaps in climate change mitigation, waste management, improvement of the early warning system and research on greenhouse gas emission calculation methods.

As a result, an agreement was reached between the Latvian and Azerbaijani governments on cooperation in combating climate change, establishing an effective early warning system and continuing cooperation in other areas as well. In the next meetings in this area, information exchange and the prospects for cooperation from the perspective of international organisations were discussed.