Azerbaijan, like its neighbors in the region of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), has considerable untapped potential for renewable energy development, Chief of the Information Unit and Press Secretary of UNECE Jean Rodriguez told Report.
"The UNECE region as a whole is making progress on its commitment to triple renewable energy generation capacity and double energy efficiency by 2030. However, this is not at the pace required by Sustainable Development Goal 7 on energy and for urgently needed climate action. Increasingly severe impacts of climate change are clearly showing us the need to scale up renewable energy deployment. We also need to invest in energy efficiency.
These are important dimensions of the support requested by UNECE member States to help develop resilient energy systems based on energy security, affordability, and environmental sustainability. We need the interplay of all low and zero-carbon technologies in an integrated energy market, and to align our efforts with a just energy transition approach," he said.
"Investing in renewable energy resources can make an important contribution to decarbonizing the economy, alongside the phasing out of fossil fuels, investing in energy efficiency and the deployment of low-carbon energy technologies.
Aiming to address some of the barriers to scaling up renewables deployment, at COP29 UNECE joined the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the Ministry of Energy of Azerbaijan, and the COP29 Presidency to discuss how to accelerate the shift to renewable energy and scale up transition finance in Central Asia. UNECE will continue to support its member States in this area," he said.
"UNECE provides a wide range of support for countries’ energy transition, through dialogue at our intergovernmental Committee on Sustainable Energy, through a wide range of practical guidance – including our Carbon Neutrality Toolkit, as well as targeted policy assistance, and capacity building.
One area of increasing focus in recent years is financing for the energy transition, where UNECE has been working with the UN High Level Climate Champions and COP Presidencies to bring energy transition investment projects in the region to the attention of the international financial community. This year we looked at more than 50 projects in Central Asia. Many of these projects are assessed using the Public Private Partnership and Infrastructure Evaluation Rating System (PIERS methodology), developed at UNECE, which aims to identify how infrastructure projects can contribute to sustainable development," he added.
