ADB official suggests that Azerbaijani companies use 'green' cement

Azerbaijani companies applying sustainable procurement practice could use 'green' cement, Jeff Taylor, ADB’s Deputy Director General and Chief Procurement Officer of Procurement, Portfolio and Financial Management Department, said in an interview with Report.

"Green cement is low carbon, lower carbon than traditional cement. And we have been piloting this in India in an ADB finance project. It is dependent on the market being able to respond to that requirement. And we did a deep dive into the Indian market and concluded that it was manufacturers who were able to respond. But one of the areas and ways we can support that is to provide an advantage in an evaluation process for a contractor that offers greener or more environmentally friendly materials," Taylor said.

He noted that if Green cement is used, the carbon offset or carbon saving could potentially be counted into the NDC, the national contribution.

"The mechanisms for measurement are not really my area of expertise. Procurement is, and there are many opportunities in procurement to actually reduce the carbon footprint both in the way and the materials used in construction and also the performance of the asset. Another example would be energy efficient pumps, for example, or led light street lighting and examples like that that I believe could be considered towards nationally determined contributions," he said.