On May 14, 2024, the next meeting of the Tax, Customs, and Legal Affairs Working Group of AHK Azerbaijan was held at the AHK Azerbaijan office, where the topic of Sustainable Development and ESG Awareness was discussed.

Opening the meeting, the chairwoman of the Tax, Customs, and Legal Affairs Working Group, Ms Gunel Sadiyeva, greeted the participants. After introducing the speakers to the guests, she informed the participants about the course of the meeting and the preparations in Azerbaijan related to COP-29. She then gave the floor to Ms Leyla Sadikhova, Senior Legal Manager of PwC Azerbaijan.

Participating as a speaker, Ms Sadikhova spoke about sustainable development on an international level, the adopted conventions, and the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. She particularly emphasised that most of the development goals set out are related to the environment. During her speech, Ms Sadikhova discussed sustainable development's Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors. She noted that the Environmental factor includes climate change, environmental degradation, and ecosystem disruptions; the Social factor includes gender issues, inclusivity, and labour relations; and the Governance factor encompasses organisational structure, compensation, diversity, and equality.

Ms. Sadikhova provided detailed information to the event participants about Azerbaijan 2030 - National Priorities for Socio-Economic Development. These priorities include a sustainable and competitive economy, the Great Return to the liberated territories, a clean environment, and a "Green Growth" country. During her presentation, she also addressed the opportunities and advantages that sustainable development in the financial sector offers for businesses. Concluding her speech, she handed over the floor to Ms Gunay Asgarova, Senior Assurance Manager at PwC Azerbaijan.

Ms Asgarova, in turn, greeted the participants and began her speech by discussing the support for stakeholder engagement in the development of the ESG Strategy, goals and commitments related to the Environmental, Social, and Governance aspects of the ESG strategy, initiatives for sustainable development, and reporting that describes the progress of the work. She concluded her speech by providing detailed information on the implementation of the five phases of the ESG system and thanked the participants.

The meeting concluded with an active exchange of ideas and a Q&A session.