THE FIFTH BAKU INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS

“ENERGY, ECOLOGY, ECONOMY”

21-24 SEPTEMBER 1999

BAKU, AZERBAIJAN REPUBLIC

The Speech of the Congress Chairman, President of the International Ecoenergy Academy, F. Aliyev

Dear participants,

Greeting you at the Fifth Baku International Congress “Energy, Ecology, Economy” gives a really great pleasure to me.

Nowadays’ historical period at the edge of the millennium owing to the insolubility of the magic triad “Energy, Ecology, Economy” is specified also by a tremendous inner potential descending from the realization of the extremely valuable perspectives of Azerbaijan Area in economical, political and other World Development Scenarios.

For every citizen of Azerbaijan the Caspian Sea is a symbol of the motherland, a miracle sea which for many centuries has fed and united the people of this region.

The importance of the Caspian Sea washing the Azerbaijan shores is also high for all humankind, and not only as the largest lake in the world but also due to its climatic significance. The Caspian smoothes amplitudes of the ambient air temperature fluctuations of the whole Caspian Region and makes the climate softer as the sea reduces the volumes of the aqueous vapour. Caspian represents a natural barrier against spreading of the Mediterranean deserts, restraining them on the West. This is an original and unique ecosystem both by its endemic fauna and flora and by their diversity of forms. The level of the Caspian changes in accordance with a cycle of many years longevity. Now the Caspian has entered a new period of the level rise. This rise is progressing, leading to flooding of the littoral areas.

Intensive development of oil production, oil transportation, petrochemical and chemical industries without introduction of full-scale environment-protection and treatment facilities has led to a sharp increase in contamination of the offshore and coastal zones.

The environmental problems of the Caspian are aggravated by the rivers falling into it. The largest river in Europe, the Volga, delivers huge amounts of pollutants into the Caspian Sea. Waters of other “transit” rivers (the Kura, Araks) with their tributaries “enrich” the sea with industrial wastes of other countries.

Being the oldest in the world oil-producing region, Azerbaijan, rather than achieve an economical prosperity, acquired a great number of environmental problems requiring prompt solution. Many territories are either fully or to a great extent are contaminated with oil products and reservoir waters.

Problems accumulated in the oil-producing industry in the years of the Soviet regime remain unsolved and bring an increasingly negative impact to the whole Caspian region. The Caspian Region which includes the territories of Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Dagestan and a substantial part of the Islamic Republic of Iran is suffering from increasingly negative consequences of the technogenic loads. Considering a great importance of the Caspian ecosystem for the whole world community and realising an extreme urgency of a crisis threatening to the Caspian ecosystem, saving it and prevention of further damage caused by an environmental degradation and rising of the sea level is now a matter of a paramount importance.

The territory of Azerbaijan has got many unique features. Not only is it rich in oil but in many other natural resources; nine out of the eleven global climatic zones are co-existing here. The Territory of the Republic and its contiguous states is situated in a seismically active area precluding construction and exploitation of any kind of nuclear installations or atomic power stations fraught with a global ecological catastrophe for the Caucasian Region and its bordering countries rich with renewable energy sources (Sun, wind, thermal waters) significantly reducing demand in the atomic power stations.

Amongst other invaluable resources of the Republic is its highest and diverse intellectual potential. In the existing environmental situation on the global scale and on the scale of the Caspian Region, the Azeri scientists took the lead in holding five International Forums “Energy, Ecology, Economy” (1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999) devoted to one of the global complex scientific-technical problems which promises to become a subject of more than half of all scientific research in the XXI century.

In the XXI century the world is entering a new era of a harmonious interaction between the nature and mankind. Ever-increasing energy demands, the world scale of utilisation of the planetary natural resources and preservation of the environment and habitat should not be in antagonism and dictate a demand for a well-balanced interaction.

“Energy, Ecology, Economy” is the triad of the Century. Having its mathematical, physical and philosophical content and meaning this triad gives a solution of the important problems of the future generations.

As it was noted by the author of the law on conservation and transformation of energy, great scientists Newton, there is nothing to be absolute, only God is absolute.

The triad of great scientist Darwin on variability, sequence and natural selection has been running through two centuries. The future of our people should be founded on the base of energy research, ecological imperative, and economic development.

Scientific collaborations established between intellectuals of Azerbaijan and famous researches from all over the World are commemorated by their common successes in fulfilment of the International Economical Projects, among which are practical realization of the project of the Century , Early Pipeline start, etc.

Sustainable development of our region and civilized exploitation of the resources of fossil fuel, renewable resources of energy, possibilities of the Caspian sea, presume effective cooperation of considerable intellectual potential of worldwide known scientists with Azeri professionals, that’s way Baku is traditional venue for this Congress.

The Baku International Forums held previously promoted the development of regional and interregional cooperation on worldwide scientific, technical and social problems of “Energy, Ecology, Economy”.

I think that the Fifth Congress will make an advance in achieving the environmental sustainability and also in solving the urgent economic and energy problems.

I wish you all success for the Congress.