Azerbaijan`s capital Baku will host the 7th International Forum on Energy for Sustainable Development International Conference on Renewable Energy on October 18-21.

It is jointly organized by the government of Azerbaijan, the United Nations Regional Commissions, the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Office in Azerbaijan, the Copenhagen Centre on Energy Efficiency, and the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century.

The Seventh Forum will combine a high-level session with plenary sessions, parallel workshops and site visits over four days.

The Forum will assemble up to 300 international energy experts, government officials, and representatives from the business community, financial sector, academia and civil society to share perspectives on how the SDGs can be implemented. It will also include an International Renewable Energy Conference and the annual sessions of the UNECE Group of Experts on Renewable Energy and Group of Experts on Energy Efficiency for the first time.

Among the planned parallel workshops are the Seminar on Policy Reforms for Renewable Energy Investments, the Workshop on Pathways to Sustainable Energy, the SPECA Thematic Working Group on Energy, Water and Environment, and the Workshop on the Role of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in Renewable Energy Planning.

The Seventh Forum provides a unique opportunity to build upon the achievements of previous fora and develop a roadmap for what participants would like to achieve in the short- and medium-term with regards to the energy-related SDGs. Outcome documents from the previous two fora2 in particular called for a deep long-term transition to a sustainable energy future and set out concrete steps the United Nations Regional Commissions could take: Assist member States in developing national sustainable energy action plans; Collaborate with member States to improve their national energy statistics programmes; Provide capacity building to member States in the action areas outlined in the Hammamet; Declaration: Energy Market Reform, Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy, Energy Access, Energy Security, Finance and Investment, Technology, and Energy Data, Indicators and Analysis; Encourage international dialogue for technological and knowledge exchange on lessons learned and best practices; Develop internationally-recognized minimum energy performance standards in all sectors.