Azerbaijan files first inter-state arbitration against Armenia

Azerbaijan commenced the first known inter-state arbitration under the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats on January 18, 2023, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan.

According to the ministry, the historic case aims to hold Armenia accountable for its extensive destruction of Azerbaijan’s environment and biodiversity during its nearly thirty years of illegal occupation of internationally recognized territories of Azerbaijan.

"Upon liberating its territories in 2020, Azerbaijan collected evidence about Armenia’s destruction of the environment during the illegal occupation. These activities while causing severe harm to the area’s natural habitats and species, depleted natural resources and destroyed biodiversity," said the ministry.

The ministry noted that Armenia’s widespread deforestation, unsustainable logging, and pollution through significant construction and mining in areas that were protected nature reserves prior to occupation has put over 500 wildlife species at risk in Azerbaijan.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) noted in 2022 that “specially protected and valuable forests” in areas of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia were not spared. There is the visual evidence showing the shocking scale of deforestation, including destroying habitats to build the Damirli-1 mine, the Galacha hydropower plant in Lachin, and the Chardaghli mine.

"Armenia’s actions have caused extraordinary levels of river pollution, including in transboundary rivers that run from Armenia into Azerbaijan’s territory," the ministry added.

The UNEP also noted in 2022 that Armenia’s mining development in the region caused “chemical pollution of water, soil and biota” in river habitats, with hundreds of fish found dead in the Okhchuchay River and several protected fish and amphibian species threatened.

"Azerbaijan’s interstate legal action notes that Armenia has violated its legal obligations under the Bern Convention to maintain populations of all wild flora and fauna, especially in the area of ensuring the conservation, restoration, and improvements to the habitats of wild flora and fauna, among others," said the statement.

"In keeping with the United Nations’ Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, Azerbaijan calls on the international community to condemn Armenia’s appalling destruction during the occupation of one of the world’s most rich and biodiverse ecologies," the ministry added.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that within the framework of arbitration, Azerbaijan demands to order Armenia to cease all ongoing violations of the Bern Convention and pay full reparation for its environmental destruction in the formerly occupied territories.