Azerbaijan is the largest of the three countries of the southern Caucasus by area, lying at the boundaries of Europe and Asia. The country is bounded to the east by an 850km Caspian Sea coast and to the north by the Greater Caucasus mountain range, and is covered by an substantial river network as part of the Caspian Sea basin. Azerbaijan had an estimated population of 9.8 million in 2017 (World Bank, 2018) and has been classified as an upper-middle income country since 2016. This classification reflects the very high growth in GDP per capita, which in 2014 stood at over eight times its 2004 level, as a result of a substantial increase in oil and gas production. The oil and gas sector represented 88% of the country’s exports in 2016 (OEC, 2016). In terms of employment, the services sector represented 49.3% of jobs in 2017, followed by the agricultural (36.4%) and industrial (14.4%) sectors (ILO, 2017).

Azerbaijan has signed and ratified the Paris Climate Agreement. In its Nationally Determined Contribution, the country has outlined climate change mitigation actions in its energy, oil and gas, residential and commercial, transport, agricultural and waste sectors. These actions primarily entail technological improvements to reduce the negative environmental impact of various sectors of the economy, together with some regulatory changes and public awareness measures. Additionally, adaptation measures in the areas of agriculture, water supply, forestry, coastal communities, human health and tourism have been identified in the country’s Third National Communication to the UNFCCC (Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, 2015) and Azerbaijan is expected to release a national adaptation plan soon (USAID, 2017).