Bishkek – July 27, 2021 – On July 26-27, 2021, in Dushanbe (Tajikistan), at the Fourth Central Asia Conference on Climate Change (CACCC-2021), Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan gathered to discuss the achieved results and exchange the experience of the climate policy implementation in Central Asia. The conference was held as combined in-person and online meeting.

CACCC-2021 was organized by the Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC) jointly with the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan within the framework of the World Bank / IFAS project “Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Program for Aral Sea Basin” (CAMP4ASB).

The 2021 conference was timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the start of CAREC's activities, which implements a unique mandate: assistance to Central Asian countries in solving national and regional problems in the field of environmental protection.

CAREC was established in 2001 by a joint decision of all five Central Asian states (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), European Union and UNDP.

“Thanks to a unique mandate, five country offices in the region and a team of professionals, more than 250 projects worth over 50 million US dollars were implemented.” says Zafar Makhmudov, Executive Director of CAREC.

In the framework of the Conference, for the first time since establishment of CAREC, it was planned to organize a high-level segment with participation of the Ministers of Environmental Protection and Ecology of the Central Asian countries to discuss the prospects and challenges for regional cooperation.

2021 completes a five-year cycle of building on ambitious climate targets within the Paris Agreement. Now is the time for national determined contributions (NDCs).

The process of renewal and implementation of NDC in Kyrgyzstan is supported by the UN Development Programme within the framework of the global initiative «Climate Promise». The updated NDC, contributing to the Paris Agreement, will be presented at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in November 2021 in Glasgow, UK.

CACCC-2021 is the platform for the Central Asian countries to discuss climate strategies, policies, NDCs developed at the national level for the implementation of the Paris Agreement with the participation of civil society. The main message is the integration of the Central Asian countries to achieve an ambitious goal, which is to prevent an increase in the average global temperature by more than 1.5 ° C.

CACCC-2021 enabled the Central Asian countries to coordinate their positions by the 26th session of the UN Congress held in Glasgow (November 2021) to raise national climate ambition to cut greenhouse gas emissions and climate adaptation goals.

Another global topic that was discussed at CACCC-2021 is climate financing. Besides an overview of existing funding in Central Asia, there will be presented potential financial resources to mitigate climate change impacts at national and regional levels.

The Ministers of Ecology and the Environmental Protection representing all Central Asian countries took part in the conference, as well as government and non-governmental agencies` representatives, academia, climate action youth groups and climate action civil society organisations.

“The United Nations Development Programme, together with our partners and donors, supports various initiatives that seek to ensure access to water resources, agriculture, etc. There are global initiatives that aim to assist 190 countries around the world, including the Central Asia region. All five participating countries will meet at the 26th Conference in Glasgow this November. And we are supporting the implementation component of the national commitments of the Paris Agreement. Looking ahead, I can say that the Central Asian countries are making progress and need to focus on long-term prospects for the development of special strategies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050.” said Ms Agi Veres, Deputy Regional Director for Europe and CIS, UNDP.

The representatives of the Central Asian Governments informed the participants about the work being done to update national contributions under the Paris Agreement, as well as actions being taken to implement them. This includes the establishment of the State Committee on Ecology and Climate in Kyrgyzstan, the adoption of legislation on adaptation to climate change in Kazakhstan, work on natural manifestations of climate change and work with local communities in Tajikistan, large-scale planting in Turkmenistan, development of renewable energy and energy efficiency in Uzbekistan.

The Chairman of the State Committee on Environment and Climate of Kyrgyz Republic Ms Dinara Kutmanova shared brief information on the state of environmental issues in our country and noted: “In recent years, the negative impacts of climate change have been increasingly felt in Kyrgyzstan. Our country, like neighbouring republics, is one of the most vulnerable to climate change, and we are more exposed to its negative effects. Nonetheless, the Central Asian region is making its own contribution to measures to reduce emissions and sustain climate change. Kyrgyzstan is committed to pursuing the goals of sustainable development as well as the commitments of the Paris Climate Agreement.”

The Kyrgyz Republic, like many other countries of the world community, having ratified the Paris Agreement in November 2019, undertook to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases that cause climate change, and reaffirmed the intention to transform economic activity to a low-carbon model and to improve climate resilience. These commitments are reflected in the provision of NDC, which brings together each country’s efforts to reduce national emissions and adapt to the effects of climate change.