Rovshan Najaf: SOCAR has taken the course for sustainable future

SOCAR has reaffirmed its commitment to a greener future and its ongoing journey toward net zero by dedicated efforts to contribute meaningfully to the global climate goals, company president Rovshan Najaf said during the event on SOCAR's progress in decarbonization, problems and achievements, held within COP29, according to Report.

"Last year at COP28 we unveiled our strategic vision to transform SOCAR into an international energy company with net zero footprint by 2050. In addition, we became co-founding members of OGDC (the Oil & Gas Decarbonization Charter), reinforcing our commitment to ambitious decarbonization goals alongside our partners," he said.

Najaf noted that after a year, the company remains deeply committed to this vision and made significant progress toward its goals.

"A crucial step in our journey has been in establishment of the SOCAR Green created to accelerate our low carbon initiatives. SOCAR Green is already concentrating on the development of renewable energy projects, exploration and deployment of carbon utilization and storage technologies, enhancement of energy efficiency and storage solutions as implementation of the green hydrogen initiatives," he said.

Socar Green will lead transformative efforts to diversify its energy portfolio and support Azerbaijan's clean energy ambitions.

He said the goal will be achieved.

"Why? Because we have support of the government, we have support of our partners and no companies can achieve these goals without support of their shareholders, partners, stakeholders and concerned parties. And we understand that there is no simple chartered way to reach these goals. Sometimes we will have to change the course, we will have to think what we did not correctly, but to adapt, adjust and to move forward," the SOCAR said.

He added that some companies fearr the cost of decarbonization.

"But if you look at it only using the available technologies as a price today, yes, it may be something not achievable. But we do believe in science, we do believe in innovation, and we do believe in innovation not only within software, but also within our partners," the SOCAR president said.

He noted that what is good is that all companies that are committed to net zero are sharing their knowledge and their technologies.