Azerbaijan, Gabala, Nov. 25 / Trend A.Akhundov /
Environmental situation in Azerbaijan dramatically changes to better side, Ecology and Natural Resources Minister Huseyn Bagirov stated while addressing the International Camp of Young Environmentalists organized by the International Dialogue for Environmental Action (IDEA) and kicked off in Gabala.
"Situation in the economy let us invest a lot in the environment as well. The Azerbaijani economy depends on the oil and gas production but we made a lot of efforts in some past years to diversify our economy and we have a very dynamic growth in the non-oil sector as well", Bagirov said.
Azerbaijan has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by more than 420 million tons since it joined the Kyoto Protocol, the Minister said.
"This volume is equal to annual emission of some European countries, for example, Spain", Bagirov said.
According to him, the area of forests in the country expanded from 11.4 to 11.8 percent of total area as a result of the large scale reforestation project.
"One can say it is not much but taking general global forests situation in account, we are happy to see that we were able to break the negative trend and start expanding our forests", Bagirov said.
According to the Youth and Sport Minister Azad Rahimov, ecology is a science which cannot be put in a narrow frame defined as activity of a group of people, because ecology is a science of household.
"It relates to each citizen and depends on responsibility and attitude of each of us and especially of youth. Sustainable development in the 21st century means consideration and harmonization of ecology and social demands" Rahimov said.
The International Camp of Young Environmentalists, which deals with environmental issues, will end its work on Saturday.