Foreign and Commonwealth Office is promoting a low carbon, high growth global economy through its newly launched programme - Low Carbon, High Growth. The Programme aim is to contribute significantly to UK climate change and energy security objectives: “Achieving climate security by promoting a rapid transition to a sustainable low carbon, global economy and access to clean, secure and affordable energy supplies for the UK”. The programme seeks to achieve the following outcomes:

·      Risks to UK and EU energy security managed through more diverse and reliable external sources of supply and more efficient global consumption.

·      Increased international commitment to an open, stable and equitable low carbon global economy delivering higher standards of living.

·      A visible and accelerated shift in investment initiated in the major economies towards low carbon.

·      Political conditions created for an equitable post-2012 agreement at the UNFCCC COP in Copenhagen in December 2009 of sufficient ambition to avoid dangerous climate change.

The programme covers climate security, energy security and economic reform projects and Azerbaijan is one of 11 priority countries for energy security projects.

The SPF Low Carbon High Growth Fund helps to provide funding for projects that help to realise the principles which play significant role in maintaining global energy security and are essential to efficient functioning of global energy system. The principles are: to achieve free, competitive and open markets; to deepen and spread the rule of law; to establish and strengthen predictable, efficient regulatory regimes; and to encourage sound energy supply and demand policies. The UK and Azerbaijan have shared interests in global energy security. The UK, along with other countries in Europe, represents a significant market for Caspian exports, while the Caspian region is one of the key global energy producers, and a vital contributor to global energy security. The EU and the UK are aiming to ensure diverse energy supply routes to Europe. The countries of the Caspian region, where Azerbaijan is an active player, look for ways to export their resources to world markets via various routes, strengthening the independence of the region through transparent, competitive markets. 

We support energy security projects that:

·         Encourage sound energy supply and demand policies

·         Improve the transparency and predictability of energy markets

·         Improve energy efficiency.

·         Facilitate the creation of open, competitive energy markets.

We also welcome regional energy projects, with activities in more than one country. Turkey, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Russia are also priority countries for energy security projects.

Current or completed energy projects in the Caspian region have included: development of technological, regulatory and financial conditions for wide-scale capture and utilisation of vented and flared gas in Azerbaijan, energy statistics training for newly independent states, Caspian maritime project.

For further information on the UK Government’s Strategic Programme Fund, and on the Low Carbon, High Growth Programme, please, refer to www.fco.gov.uk.