{"id":33600,"date":"2017-04-11T09:47:58","date_gmt":"2017-04-11T08:47:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/?p=33600"},"modified":"2017-04-11T09:47:58","modified_gmt":"2017-04-11T08:47:58","slug":"azerbaijan-president-gas-pipeline-eu-will-not-stopped","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2017\/04\/11\/azerbaijan-president-gas-pipeline-eu-will-not-stopped\/","title":{"rendered":"Azerbaijan president: gas pipeline to EU will not be stopped"},"content":{"rendered":"

A massive pipeline linking Azerbaijan’s gas fields to the networks of Europe is an inevitability,\u00a0Azeri\u00a0president Ilham Aliyev has told his cabinet.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor is already a reality. True, there are those who want to prevent us. It is natural. We came across these ten years ago,\u201d said Aliyev, as reported by the Azerbaijan Press Agency<\/a>\u00a0on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the world’s largest fossil fuel projects, with a projected construction cost of $46bn.<\/p>\n

It is opposed by environmental and human rights\u00a0groups on the basis it will lock in fossil fuel dependence\u00a0and its construction\u00a0across Georgia, Turkey, Greece, Albania and Italy will expose communities to forced relocations and disruption.<\/p>\n

Weekly briefing:\u00a0<\/a><\/strong>Sign up for your essential climate news\u00a0update<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Last month, Azerbaijan was suspended from the\u00a0Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)<\/a>, a global watchdog that sets standards for human rights in countries where the fossil fuel industry operates.\u00a0Aliyev’s autocratic government had failed to ease pressure on civil society groups, despite repeated warnings from the EITI board.<\/p>\n

Speaking to ministers at a quarterly review of the\u00a0Caucasus\u00a0nation’s economy, Aliyev said: “I remember at the time when the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline was built, the forces who sought to attack our policy, as well as the Armenian lobby and some circles having a negative attitude to the project, in a variety of ways,\u00a0mostly with the environmental pretexts tried to thwart our work.<\/p>\n

“To a certain extent, they have achieved this. I remember that at that time even some international financial institutions delayed loans. But despite this, in 2006 Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan was opened. And today, some circles, outside forces are again trying, under the pretext of ecology, to delay work in some segments of the Southern Gas Corridor.”<\/p>\n

Late in March, the Italian government approved the final section of the pipeline, where it crosses the Adriatic into\u00a0Puglia. Activists immediately launched protests<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Preparations are being made for the pipeline in the southern Balkans, with Greece and Albania’s governments acquiring land from farmers. In Turkey the\u00a0Trans Anatolian Pipeline (Tanap) section is already well underway.<\/p>\n

Grassroots movements are preparing to resist the construction of the pipeline along its course, but\u00a0in Turkey the risk of suppression is likely to quell real resistance.<\/p>\n

Watchdog suspends Azerbaijan, EU gas pipeline loans threatened<\/strong><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Billions in\u00a0public\u00a0finance for the pipeline are already approved\u00a0from the World Bank and\u00a0Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Several other development banks are considering loans. All are being targeted by activist groups to reconsider or reject their support.<\/p>\n

Aliyev said their criticisms\u00a0had “no grounds” and that all environmental standards would be observed.<\/p>\n

“I am confident that 2017 will be decisive in this respect, and next year we should mark the opening of the Tanap\u00a0project,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The project\u00a0is proceeding with strong support from within the European Commission, which argues that it will diversify the bloc’s gas supply away from Russian gas. (Although last month Russian state gas company Gazprom and Italy’s Eni signed a deal<\/a> that paves the way for the Russian company to access to the pipeline).<\/p>\n

What is the Southern Gas Corridor?<\/strong><\/p>\n

BP calls it<\/a>\u00a0\u201carguably the global oil and gas industry\u2019s most significant and ambitious undertaking yet\u201d. It is a three-part pipeline that, if completed, will carry gas from the\u00a0Shah Deniz 2\u00a0oil field in Azerbaijan\u2019s Caspian Sea through Georgia, Turkey, Greece, Albania into southern Italy.<\/p>\n

The pipeline is supposed to reduce the EU\u2019s dependence on Russian gas. Campaigners argue that it is likely to become a stranded asset as gas demand in Europe is predicted to remain stagnant<\/a>. Many\u00a0have raised concerns about deepening Europe\u2019s financial and political cooperation\u00a0with the autocratic\u00a0Aliyev regime.<\/p>\n

Total cost: Estimated at US$46bn<\/span><\/p>\n

Timeframe: Construction is underway, due to be completed by\u00a02020<\/span><\/p>\n

Sections:<\/span><\/p>\n