Baku International Energy Charter Forum started

Baku International Energy Charter Forum started in video conference format  in cooperation with the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan  and International Energy Charter under the Chairmanship of Azerbaijan.
The Minister of Energy of Azerbaijan Parviz Shahbazov, Secretary General of the Energy Charter Urban Rusnak and Director of Energy Policy, Directorate-General for Energy, European Commission Ms. Cristina Lobillo Borrero delivered a speech at the forum on “Transition to renewables in power generation, transport, heating and cooling: modern challenges and trends”.
Minister of Energy, chairman of the Energy Charter Conference Parviz Shahbazov spoke about the energy projects implemented by Azerbaijan as one of the leading energy centers, important role of our country in the world energy architecture. It was noted that this year the chairmanship of Azerbaijan to the International Energy Charter Conference is the logical result of the initiatives and achievements of our country in recent years. A considerable part of these initiatives and achievements is related to the energy sector.   It was noted that with its transnational projects on the transportation of extracted carbo-hydrogen resources to the world markets Azerbaijan turned today into a country, contributing to the European energy security and diversification of its energy sources. As the next stage the work on the mega project “Southern Gas Corridor” has already been finalised and starting from the end of this year the Azerbaijani gas will be brought to the European customers.
Since Azerbaijan took over the Chairmanship of the Energy Charter Conference for 2020, the acceleration of the energy transition by increasing the share of renewable energy sources in transport, heating and electricity generation has been declared a priority.  
The minister informed about the work done during the chairmanship of the Energy Charter Conference by Azerbaijan, noted the modernization of the Energy Charter agreement, Energy Investment Risk Assessment, preparation for the next ministerial conference planned to be held in Baku and work done in other fields for the purpose of expanding cooperation between the member states.
 Participants of the forum were also informed about the reforms carried out in the energy sector in the country, including drafting of legislative acts, institutional changes and implemented projects.
Expressing his gratitude to the Charter Secretariat for paying special attention to energy transition issues, the speaker said the cooperation would play an important role in addressing energy issues.
 Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov also drew attention to the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Starting from September 27, 2020, Azerbaijani civilian settlements, social, cultural and strategic facilities, as well as energy infrastructure have come under intense fire by the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia. It was noted that apart from shelling the cities and villages far from the battle zone, the Armenian armed forces also fire at the energy infrastructure of Azerbaijan, and  they launched ballistic missiles at the largest power plant of the region, the Azerbaijan Thermal Power Plant and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan main export oil pipeline . It was noted that it is not the first time that Armenia aims at the energy infrastructures and in July 2020 they attacked us on the interstate border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in the region of Tovuz, far away from the Karabakh region, through which the South Caucasian Corridor passes, putting such an important pipeline for the energy security of Europe at risk. At the end, the partner countries were called to condemn Armenia's aggression, particularly its targeting of the strategic international energy projects and put an end to the criminal military attacks, which endanger international peace and security.  
Then, Secretary-General of Energy Charter Urban Rusnak delivered a speech and expressed his gratitude to organize the Baku International Energy Charter Forum. The Secretary-general said that this was the second International Charter Forum hosted by the government of Azerbaijan and expressed his gratitude to the Chairmanship for continuous support and guidance provided to the Energy Charter Process throughout the year. He noted that despite the pandemic and associated limitations, we have managed to make substantial progress on the most important issues on the agenda, such as modernisation of the Energy Charter Treaty and implementation of the conclusions of the Review.
Utban Rusnak also talked about the important role of renewable technologies in the global energy mix during the past decade.
Then Directorate-General for Energy of the European Commission, Ms. Cristina Lobillo Borrero delivered a speech and expressed her gratitude to the Azerbaijani side for organizing the Forum and gave detailed information on the policy of the European Union in this field.
The Forum will continue its work in two sessions on the topics of support to renewable energy sources - legal, technical and financial aspects, promotion of energy efficiency, exchange of best practices and knowledge in this direction.
About 190 participants, including state officials from 40 countries, representatives of international organizations, energy companies, research centers, as well as mass media, participated in the forum.
It should be reminded that Azerbaijan has been cooperating with the International Energy Charter for more than 20 years. The decision on Azerbaijan`s chairmanship over the Energy Charter Conference in 2020 was made in 2018.