Azerbaijan has filed the Statement of Claim with the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in its arbitration case against Armenia under the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats of 1979 (‘the Bern Convention’), the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported.
The Statement of Claim details Armenia’s multiple violations of its legal obligations under the Bern Convention.
"Upon liberating its territories, Azerbaijan uncovered shocking evidence of Armenia’s environmental destruction, and its blatant failure to protect habitats and species in what is one of the world’s richest biodiversity hotspots. Armenia’s actions and omissions have caused severe harm to the area’s habitats and species - harm which is, by its very nature, irreversible," the ministry said.
It should be noted that based on the above mentioned evidence Azerbaijan served a Notice of Arbitration on Armenia to begin arbitration proceedings on January 18, 2023. The arbitral tribunal was confirmed on 15 September 2023. The first procedural conference took place on April 12, 2024 in The Hague.
The ministry stressed that Azerbaijan’s legal action against Armenia is the first known inter-state arbitration case under the Bern Convention.
"Azerbaijan is seeking full reparations from Armenia for the extensive destruction of the habitats and species caused by Armenia. This includes widespread deforestation, environmentally unsustainable logging, mining, and construction of hydropower plants," the statement reads.
The ministry noted that the UN Environment Programme has previously noted that thousands hectares of specially protected and valuable forests in Azerbaijan - home to ancient trees over 2,000 years old - were damaged.
"Some of these reserves were established to protect rare and fragile ecosystems, such as an oriental plane forest in the Basitchay River valley. The UNEP report also documented that mining activities in the formerly occupied territories caused ‘chemical pollution of water, soil and biota’," the statement reads.
The ministry added that Baku will continue to seek justice and to hold Armenia internationally accountable for its destruction of, and failure to protect, the environment, species, and habitats during its illegal occupation.
