Azerbaijan

The first Environmental Performance Reviews (EPR) of Azerbaijan was carried out in 2003. This second review intends to measure the progress made by Azerbaijan in managing its environment since the first EPR, and in addressing upcoming environmental challenges.

Azerbaijan is situated in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. With its land area of 86,600  km2, Azerbaijan is the largest of the three South Caucasus countries. The territory of Azerbaijan extends 400  km from north to south and 500  km from west to east. The country is bordered by the Russian Federation to the north (border length 390  km), the Caspian Sea to the east (800  km), the Islamic Republic of Iran to the south (756  km), Turkey to the south-west (15  km), Armenia to the west (1,007  km) and Georgia to the north-west (480  km).

The difficult social and economic problems are the main reason why farmers pay little attention to environmental issues. Even a severe threat to their future production capacity such as erosion is not given enough attention. Where there are no alternative energy sources to firewood, even forests planted to protect against erosion are being cut.

The main provisions on mechanisms for compliance with and enforcement of environmental requirements in Azerbaijan are provided in Chapter  XI of the 1999  Law on Environmental Protection. Such mechanisms include

The first Environmental Performance Reviews (EPR) described the system of regulatory and economic instruments available for environmental purposes. These included (i) emission charges for air pollution, wastewater generation and waste disposal; (ii) user charges, taxes on the extraction and use of natural resources; and (iii) penalties and compensation for environmental damage. There have not been any significant changes in this basic legal framework, in particular regarding pollution charges, although penalties were increased in 2007. User charges have also been raised and new rules have been introduced for the calculation of waste fees.

The second Environmental Performance Reviews (EPR) of Azerbaijan began in November 2009  with a preparatory mission. During this mission, the final structure of the report was discussed and established. A review mission took place from 11  to 22  April 2010. The team of international experts taking part included experts from the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, and Switzerland as well as from the secretariats of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

Since the First Environmental Performance Reviews that took place in 2003, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources (MENR) has made a number of improvements as regards forest and biodiversity management and the establishment of protected areas. Azerbaijan, as a party to a number of biodiversity-related conventions (Chapter  4), has also made efforts to comply with their obligations and in this way improve nature management in a country where the exploitation of its natural resources had caused significant loss of biodiversity. There remain, however, some issues to be addressed, particularly in the areas of biodiversity monitoring, policy development and goal-setting, biodiversity and forestry legislation, as well as assessment and evaluation of implementation.