Widely recognised as the world’s oldest oil exporter, Azerbaijan will showcase its renewed efforts to combat climate change on Friday as it hosts the 2026 World Environment Day conference in partnership with the UN.
The event in Baku will focus on climate change at a time when the world is on track to exceed the internationally agreed 1.5°C warming limit.
Ahead of the conference, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stressed the need to keep temperature increases as low as possible by slashing greenhouse gas emissions.
“The past eleven years have been the eleven hottest on record. And the damage goes far beyond rising temperatures - from polluted air to degraded land, collapsing ecosystems, and vanishing biodiversity. Harming health, destroying homes and deepening hunger.
“The world is heading for a temporary overshoot above 1.5 degrees. Every fraction of a degree brings greater harm - especially to the most vulnerable.
“Our task is to make that overshoot as small, as short, and as safe as possible - and rapidly bring temperatures back down. That means slashing emissions.”
Guterres highlighted the importance of transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy and cutting methane emissions in the fight against climate change.
Azerbaijan’s state energy company, SOCAR, has taken steps to tackle methane leaks from Soviet-era oil and gas facilities. The company uses gas-imaging cameras and drones equipped with methane-detecting sensors to identify leaks.
Methane, the primary component of natural gas, is responsible for around a third of the global warming being experienced today.
Hikmat Abdullayev, SOCAR’s Deputy Vice-President for Energy Transition, Environment and Decarbonisation, said reducing methane leakage was a “no-brainer.”
“Whatever emissions you reduce, you’re putting back into the system and you can sell them. In the long run, there’s a clear benefit from it.”
In November 2025, Azerbaijan updated its climate action plan and committed to increasing the share of energy generated from renewable sources to 30 per cent by 2030.
The country now expects to surpass that target and generate up to 39 per cent of its electricity from clean energy sources.
“You can drill as many wells as you want but sooner or later your production is going to go down,” Abdullayev said.
“With renewables it’s not like that. As long as you clean your solar panels, they’re going to deliver.”
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Five Azerbaijani citizens have been killed and three others injured following drone attacks on two cargo vessels in the Sea of Azov, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
Marjane Satrapi, the Iranian-French artist, filmmaker and author best known for the acclaimed graphic novel Persepolis, has died at the age of 56, the French presidency announced on Thursday.
Colombian singer Shakira will perform the official World Cup song, "Dai Dai", at the tournament's opening ceremony in Mexico City, FIFA announced on Friday (5 June).
Armenians will vote on Sunday in a parliamentary election that will determine whether Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan secures a new mandate to pursue peace with Azerbaijan or cedes ground to pro-Russian rivals.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said in a statement that its Aerospace Force did not strike the Kuwait Airport passenger terminal on Wednesday, and that the destruction was instead caused by a failed U.S. Patriot missile.
Israel and Lebanon have agreed to implement a ceasefire after U.S.-backed talks in Washington. The deal requires Hezbollah to halt attacks and withdraw from southern Lebanon, while both sides will resume direct talks later this month aimed at reaching a broader agreement.
As Armenia heads toward parliamentary elections on 7 June, the country's relationship with Azerbaijan is emerging as one of the defining issues of the campaign, with analysts and international observers highlighting the role of regional politics in shaping voters’ mindsets.
The United Kingdom has begun using SpaceX's Starshield satellite network for military operations, according to people familiar with the matter, marking one of the first known deployments of the secure government-focused system outside the U.S.
All 27 European Union (EU) member countries have agreed to begin the first set of talks with Ukraine and Moldova about joining the political and economic bloc.
Five Azerbaijani citizens have been killed and three others injured following drone attacks on two cargo vessels in the Sea of Azov, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he sees progress between Israel and Lebanon after talks with Netanyahu, while Hezbollah has rejected a new ceasefire proposal and Israel has ruled out a troop withdrawal.
Disruptions to global energy routes have transformed energy security from an economic concern into a matter of national security, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Wednesday.
Artificial intelligence, digital innovation and youth engagement in environmental governance took centre stage at Eco Expo Central Asia 2026 in Samarkand, as experts and young leaders explored new approaches to climate resilience and sustainability.
A series of signals from Washington, including congressional testimony, a U.S. Embassy statement and a senior diplomat's visit to Tbilisi, has given Georgia's ruling party reason to declare a diplomatic reset. But Washington's message is more nuanced than Tbilisi is suggesting.
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