As prepared for delivery

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for inviting me to be part of this event and congratulations to SOCAR and the companies present here for pioneering this important [Caspian Environmental Protection] initiative.

I am particularly pleased to see that the MOU being signed today supports the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, emission reduction, environmental regulations and the achievement of climate and energy-related SDGs.

Since 2013, we have worked with SOCAR and the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources to help pilot solutions for some of the most pressing environmental challenges.

For example, we helped install a novel gas capturing technology in the Siyazan oilfields. As a result, 4.6 million cubic meters of methane that previously vented into the atmosphere, is now delivered to people’s homes for cooking and heating.

This helped reduce onshore methane emissions by 20%.

Our pilot projects showed that energy efficiency measures if replicated on a large scale have the potential to reduce 35% of greenhouse gas emissions in SOCAR’s construction sector and 8-10% reduction in the transport sector.

Our partnership clearly demonstrated that oil companies can make significant reductions in emissions by increasing energy efficiency, turning to electricity-powered vehicles and investing in research and development.

SOCAR, as a leader in the industry, is well positioned to share its expertise across the country and beyond and actively promote the large-scale replication of these achievements. We certainly encourage it to do so and to be a forerunner in Azerbaijan.

Millions and millions of dollars are lost today because of a lack of energy efficient measures.

So much could be achieved if proper monitoring, reporting and verification systems are put into place.

Renewable energies and technological innovations can pave the way to thousands of new green jobs, supporting economic diversification, and UNDP is fully committed to partner on such initiatives.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Climate change is the defining threat our planet is facing today. Greenhouse emission keep rising.

Science tells us we are very close to the point of no return. And we do not have a Planet B.

Hence we must all do more, do better and do greener – together. The time to act is now.

Congratulations to the companies signing this MoU today. We look forward to see the results of your commitments for a cleaner environment and cleaner energy.

Chox sag olun.