BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. The import of electric vehicles (EVs) to Azerbaijan has increased nearly 33 times over the past three years, Chief Advisor at the Economic Policy and Industry Department of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan Gulgnaz Javadova said in a session on "Greening Urban Transport" at COP29, Trend reports.
"Electric vehicle imports to Azerbaijan have grown significantly, rising from just 160 units to over 5,000 vehicles in the past three years—marking an approximate 33-fold increase.
Another major achievement is the rise in the market share of electric vehicles among imported cars. This share has increased from 0.22 percent to 4.37 percent, reflecting a significant shift toward environmentally friendly transportation," she said.
The chief advisor noted that over 600 charging stations have been installed across the country, with more than 70 percent of them being set up by the private sector.
"To encourage the use of eco-friendly vehicles, Azerbaijan introduced an 18 percent VAT exemption in January 2022, which covers both the customs duties on EVs and hybrids as well as the import of charging stations, ensuring a steady supply of infrastructure for sustainable mobility.
In December 2022, we also implemented a 15 percent customs duty exemption for the import of electric vehicles. Additionally, to make financing more accessible, we reduced the upfront payment for EVs from forty percent to ten percent and for hybrid vehicles from forty percent to twenty percent," Javadova added.
To note, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which will run until November 22, opened at the Baku Olympic Stadium on November 11. It is the largest event organized by Azerbaijan to date, and the first time in the region that it is being held in Azerbaijan.
Within COP29, the highest-level event - the summit of world leaders on climate action - was held on November 12–13.
The main expectation from COP29 is to agree on a fair and ambitious New Collective Quantitative Goal (NCQG) on climate finance. The COP29 Presidency has launched 14 initiatives that include linkages between climate action and the Sustainable Development Goals, including green energy corridors, green energy storage, harmony for climate resilience, clean hydrogen, methane reduction in organic waste, action on green digital technologies, and other topics.
In addition to being a top priority that creates the conditions for action, creating climate finance will also help fulfill the 1.5°C pledge by bringing everyone together.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Rio Earth Summit in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference in the climate system. The acronym COP (Conference of Parties) stands for “Conference of Parties” and is the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change.
A total of 198 countries are parties to the Convention. Unless otherwise decided by the parties, COP is held annually. The first COP event was held in March 1995 in Berlin, and its secretariat is located in Bonn.
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