The Future of the SDGs: The Climate Agenda for Azerbaijan and the South Caucasus
A conversation between Jeffrey D. Sachs and Sahiba Gafarova, Speaker of the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Hosted by the Center for Sustainable Development, Columbia Climate School
Description: Azerbaijan hosted COP29 in Baku in November 2024. It is also a major oil and gas producer and is simultaneously building a renewable energy and green technology sector. Speaker Sahiba Gafarova will discuss what that combination means for Azerbaijan's energy policy, for the South Caucasus more broadly, and for the development goals that energy choices underwrite. The conversation will cover the region's role in energy supply and export, the adaptation challenges it faces, the legacy of the Baku COP, and what the Sustainable Development Goals mean for a resource-rich middle-income country as 2030 approaches.
Speaker Gafarova has led the Milli Majlis since 2020 and heads Azerbaijan's delegations to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic States, and the Parliamentary Network of the Non-Aligned Movement. She currently chairs the Parliamentary Assembly of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States.
