Baku Decides | Youth Climate Negotiations

A Call to Action for all stakeholders, including governments, private businesses, non-governmental organizations, and individuals 

Baku, 29.01.-01.02.2024

The Baku Decides event not only reinforced the essential role of youth and business in climate action but also showcased Azerbaijan’s commitment to leading by example, setting a precedent for meaningful international collaboration and innovation in sustainable development. By implementing Baku Decides, Azerbaijan was impressively setting the stage for its role as the host country for COP29 in November 2024.

The event was held with the participation of Youth Climate Change Advisors of United Nations, Joyce Mendez and Henry Jevanic. Both work directly with Antonio Guterrez, Generel Secretary of the United Nations.

Steinbeis Senior Project Manager Roxana Boboruta was the single delegate from an EU country who was invited to contribute to Baku Decides. Roxana Boboruta provided valuable insights from business environment backed up by experience from ongoing consulting projects in the post-pandemic period and applying the Steinbeis model for innovation, research and economic promotion. Title of her presentation: “Black Sea – Caspian Sea Corridor | Romania as Gate to Europe and to European Union”.

Baku Decides, is an annual forum for youth discussions focused on regional climate negotiations and actions against climate change.

Roxana Boboruta highlighted the necessity of demand-driven innovation and the role of youth in shaping a sustainable future. She underscored the importance of international knowledge partnerships and proposed to launch the Early Innovators Program, which became a success story in Romania, to drive forward the agenda.

Recent initiatives like the Caspian-EU Green Corridor, connecting Azerbaijan-Georgia with Romania-Hungary, exemplify how new partnerships can unlock regional potentials. To position itself as a leading supplier of green energy for Europe, Azerbaijan must commit to substantial investments in renewable energy sources and adopt cutting-edge technologies. This strategic move not only underscores Azerbaijan’s dedication to sustainability but also opens vast avenues for international business collaboration, leveraging opportunities across the renewable energy sector. Azerbaijan can be seen as a new and highly promising location for investments into renewable energy businesses.

International agreements are more sustainable if are backup up by voices from the business environment and from the youth living in partnering countries.

Former Romanian Minister of Energy and in his tenure when signing the international agreements for the Green Energy Corridor, Virgil-Daniel Popescu, highlighted in his letter addressed to Baku Decides event, Romania’s commitment to reaching net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050 and importance of youth involvement through examples of innovative contributions of Romanian youth to climate action, encouraging participants from all over the countries to continue sharing insights and contributing to sustainable development. Mr Popescu is currently President of the Committee for Environment and Climate Change in the Romanian parliament. Virgil Popescu is the single high-level official to deliver his support message to youth contributing to historical role of Baku taking-over the task to institutionalize the position of Youth Climate Champion (stated officialy in COP28 in Dubai), complimenting the on-site participation of Azeri ministers in charge with youth and sports and eivironment portofolios. Ms. Roxana Boboruta followed the invitation of Dr. Fariz Izmailzade, Vice-Rector of ADA University (established under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan), organizer under and on behalf of the Ministry of Youth and Sports from Azerbaijan to contribute to talks and side-events related to COP29 and drafting the youth statement.

 The First Youth Statement. Negotiated and agreed in Baku.

Baku Decides led to the first Youth Statement which is the result of the collective wisdom and dedication of young delegates from around the world. Delegates representing Azerbaijan, Turkey, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Moldova, Romania, Uzbekistan, Iran, Belarus and Brazil have developed a manifesto that meets the pressing demands of our time.

Steinbeis will publish the final version of the Youth Statement soon. It is a particular pleasure to announce that Roxana Boboruta’s suggestions have been taken up and adopted as official decions.

Baku Decides was implemented by the Ministry of Youth and Sport of the Republic of Azerbaijan by participation of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the country.

Mrs. Boboruta’s participation is an extension of a series of relevant events, e.g. her involvement in the Steinbeis project with the European Climate Initiative, the organisation of the official visit of the Ministry of the Environment of Baden-Wuerttemberg to the Government of Romania and her leading role in implementing the Early Innovators Program in Romania.

Steinbeis Enterprise in Azerbaijan

Steinbeis Azerbaijan Ltd. was founded id December 2022 to continue and intensify the successful work in Azerbaijan. Project examples: Fostering Development of Local Tech Startups (2021-2023); Qualifiying of experts from Agrarian Training Centers (2023).