by Anushka Kalyan
High School Senior, ECOS Executive Committee Member, and 2024 Environmentalist of the Year Awardee

“What is an Azerbaijan?” my economics teacher asked me when I asked him to sign the independent study contract before my weeklong trip. I laughed, but quickly realized that this relatively small country in the Caucasus region of Central Asia isn’t as top-of-mind as I assumed. After explaining that I would be travelling to Baku, Azerbaijan for the UN Youth Climate Conference (COY19), my teacher became as excited as I was.

The United Nations COP, or “Conference of Parties” climate discussions and process are massive, but COY, the pre-COP youth conference, is equally as important. COY was started in 2005 in Montreal, Canada,
by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to ensure that youth are empowered as key stakeholders in the climate discussion.

At COY19 from November 7-9, 2024, I was immersed in the global youth climate movement and shocked by the sheer number of countries represented. Each person that I met had a background in community organizing, policymaking, and loved natural resources and the environment. I was particularly touched by a representative of Zimbabwe who fights for youth representation in government, a graduate student from the Philippines who had represented her country at a Southeast Asian energy conference recently, and a 9th grader from South India who had been organizing her farming community for years. The best lessons from COY 19 were from listening to the dedicated youth leaders I met there.

I had the opportunity to co-present an hour-long workshop on scaling grassroots movements to influence climate policy, collaborating with one of the 10 U.S.-based organizations that helped organize it. Leading up to the conference, my team met frequently to ensure our presentation was well-researched, thorough, and engaging. As a delegate, I also attended other workshops, further enriching my experience.

When I landed in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, with my mother, it felt like a beautiful blend of Eastern and Western architecture, styles, and culture. While the political culture there is certainly controversial due to the suppression of free speech of its citizens, I still took note of how close-knit friends and family were, as well as how modern and historic architecture blended as one.

While the delegates were deeply motivated, I had hoped to find that COY19 itself was institutionally more committed to action-based solutions; and that conference organizers were committed to creating a network of climate activists that would, after the conference, provide updates and support through online forums or Zoom calls. With others, I pitched this idea to the conference organizers, and hope to help make it happen at next year’s COY through the UNFCCC’s Youth Constituency, YOUNGO.

COY19 emphasized the importance of centering youth in climate discussions. While there’s much to learn from experienced climate leaders, like many at ECOS, youth have the power to shape confident climate policy through global collaboration. Although my economics teacher once jokingly asked, “What is an Azerbaijan?” I am grateful for this experience. I look forward to applying what I’ve learned back home and nurturing the contacts I’ve made with people from around the world.