National Initiative Group of Azerbaijan
NIGs’ (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia) goal is to promote scientifically justified policy and decision making in the fields of Climate Change Adaptation (CCA), Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and Overall Sustainable Mountain Development (SMD) throughout the Caucasus with the active involvement of academic, civil and private organizations. Main activities are: Identification of priority issues including needs and challenges; Coordination and information exchange between member organizations; Advocacy to ensure science-based decision making. Moreover, Regional Initiative Group (RIG) represented by all the national NIGs, i.e. Co-chairs of NIGs, is focused on tackling the problems at the regional level.
National Initiative Group of Azerbaijan (NIG Azerbaijan) is an alliance comprised of scientific, civil and private organizations interested and working among others in the fields of Disaster Risk Management (DRM), Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) and Sustainable Mountain Development (SMD).
NIG Azerbaijan was established in terms of the project Strengthening the Climate Adaptation Capacities in the South Caucasus (SCAC) implemented by the Caucasus Network for Sustainable Development of Mountain Regions (Sustainable Caucasus). Currently, NIG Azerbaijan unites more than 18 representatives from various academic, non-governmental and/or private organizations and individual members.
NIG Azerbaijan is responsible for advocacy of the science-policy interface strengthening and C-RRA promotion and selected by the first meeting of NIG Azerbaijan topic for the next years’ work is the spatial planning concept sophistication and integrated balanced regional development in Azerbaijan. NIG Azerbaijan elected first co-chairs for the following two years: Ramiz Mammadov (academic from Institute of Geography, Azerbaijan National Academy of Science) and Shamil Huseynov (practitioner and public consultant).
NIG Azerbaijan members are as follows: Institute of Geography and Institute of Catalyze of the Academy of Science of Azerbaijan Republic, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University (ASOIU), Khazar University, Civil Society representatives: National association of rural municipalities, Animal Protection Public Union, Regional Development Public Union, ELS MAM, Sustainable Development Public Union and Hayajan, and representatives of insurance companies: Ateshgah Insurance, Ravan Insurance. Baku Insurance, Gala Insurance, Pasha Life Insurance, Gala Life Insurance and Ata Insurance
Co-Chairs:
Shamil Huseynov
Shamil Huseynov entered the Azerbaijan Technical University in1968 and received the construction engineer educational background in 1973, later in 1983-1986 he graduated the Academy of Public Administration, Azerbaijan as political scientist.
Among Shamil Huseynov’s experience in public sector is the Head of Executive Authority of Neftchala district in 1989 – 1992, Member of the Parliament in 1990 – 1995, the chief consultant, the Head of Natural resources, energy and environmental sector, the chief advisor of Natural resources, energy and environmental Committee of the Parliament.
Shamil Huseynov is recognized expert in both international donors project and governmental services. As expert he participated in different projects, in particularly in 2009-2012 as legal adviser of EU Waste Governance project. His contribution was analyzing environmental legislation related to waste management in Azerbaijan and conducted legal needs assessment to develop Waste Management Strategy for Lankaran Pilot region. In 2010-2014 as Legal and institutional advisor he made contribution to WB Greater Baku Master Plan development project. He provided environmental legislation analysis related to development of different sectors, including utilities(electric and gas supply, waste management, water and sanitation and etc. ) in Greater Baku region and conducted legal needs assessment to develop regional development plan for Greater Baku.
In 2010-2017 Shamil Huseynov have took some managerial and expert positions in international projects, in particularly, in ENPI FLEG (I – II Program), Head of National Advisory Committee, in PPRD East 2, Member of the National Advisory Group for Azerbaijan, The reducing Transboundary degradation in Kura Aras river basin, the Expert on legal and institutional affairs, in 2013 – 2016 the Head of Project Steering Committee and the Team leader of the project group on legal and institutional affairs of UNDP – GEF.
Islam Mustafayev
Mustafayev Islam Israfil oglu was born in 1951 in the Bilasuvar region of Azerbaijan. In 1973 he graduated from the Faculty of Physics of Azerbaijan State University. He studied as a PhD student at the Institute of Chemical Physics of the USSR Academy of Sciences in Moscow, defended his PhD thesis at the Institute of Electrochemistry in 1978. He defended his doctor of Sciences dissertation at the Leningrad Technological Institute in 1991. He is specialist low-carbon radiation-chemical processes.
The processes they developed made it possible to valuable reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. In 1996 he was awarded the academic title of professor, and in 2014 he was elected a corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan. Since 2021, he has been the General Director of the Institute of Radiation Problems of the Ministry of Science and Education, and since 2016, the head of the department of “Emergency Situations and Life Safety” of the Azerbaijan University of Architecture and Civil Engineering.
He is the author of about 350 scientific papers, including 20 patents and more than 50 projects on low-carbon radiation-thermal processes. He is the author of more than 50 projects on environmental protection - combating climate change, the use of renewable energy sources, chemical safety, inventory of sources of environmental pollution.