Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova delivered a speech at the videoconference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union themed ‘Protection of the Natural Environment in Armed Conflict’ on 9 July.

Speaker Sahiba Gafarova remarked in her address that protection of the natural environment at times of armed conflicts was a matter not only environmental but also of the humanitarian, legal and security urgency. She said that armed conflicts inflicted enduring damage on people and on ecosystems, biodiversity, water resources and agricultural territories. All this dampens sustainable development and bears adversely on future generations.

The Speaker of the Milli Majlis emphasised that international humanitarian law provides a substantial legal foundation for environmental protection during armed conflicts. Its effectiveness is contingent on national-level application, she said, pointing up the relevant responsibility of Parliaments. It was said that legislative bodies play an important role by ensuring that the principles of international humanitarian law are reflected in national legislation, strengthening oversight of their implementation, promoting accountability for environmental damage and supporting the post‑conflict environmental recovery process via international co‑operation.

Continuing, the Speaker of Parliament made the event participants aware of the destructive environmental consequences of armed conflicts using the example of Azerbaijan. It was remarked that large‑scale environmental damage was inflicted on the affected territories: forests were cut down, soils were degraded, water resources were polluted, biodiversity destroyed and natural resources exploited illegally during the thirty-year occupation period. Besides, Sahiba Gafarova let it be known that the more than a million mines continue posing a serious threat to people and nature while hampering the environmental reclamation process and the secure return of the IDP.

The Speaker of the Milli Majlis said that Azerbaijan is carrying out large‑scale work on humanitarian demining, ecosystem restoration, reforestation and the implementation of green energy projects in the territories liberated from occupation today. The Parliament of Azerbaijan continues strengthening the national legislative frameworks by passing new laws and amending the effective ones in keeping with the national obligations subject to relevant international conventions. Furthermore, the Milli Majlis amended the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan introducing the ‘Ecocide’ Article and recognising ecocide as a crime against peace and humanity in 2024. The Law 'On the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling (Accumulation) and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction' and the Law 'On Demining' have been adopted as well.

Speaker Sahiba Gafarova also particularly high-lit the Outcome Document adopted at the Parliamentary Meeting which the Inter‑Parliamentary Union and the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan organised jointly on the COP29 margins in Baku in November 2024. She said that this document calls on Parliaments to prevent environmental impacts of conflicts, raise awareness of the environmental damage caused by landmines and unexploded ordnance, and strengthen legislative initiatives to combat ecocide. According to her, these recommendations fully reflect Azerbaijan's long‑term position as the host country of COP29: environmental protection must be an integral part of conflict prevention, post‑conflict recovery and the establishment of sustainable peace.

Concluding her address, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova reiterated her call to continue the joint endeavours to strengthen further the enforcement of international humanitarian law and ensure a safer and more sustainable future for the coming generations.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis