Excellencies,

Mr. Zamirbek Askarov, Vice Prime-Minister

Mr. Sanjar Mukanbetov, Minister of Economy

Honorable Member of Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic

Mr. Daniiar Imanaliev, Head of the Department for Strategic Development, economy, and Finance of the President office of KR

Mdm Monica Iwersen, Ambassador of Germany

Distinguished guests

Good morning to you all! Cаламатсыздарбы! (Salamatsyzdarby)

It is my pleasure to greet you on behalf of the UN system in the Kyrgyz Republic. First of all, my colleagues and I want to use this opportunity to congratulate the Kyrgyz Republic on its ratification of the Paris Agreement earlier this week! This is a historic commitment that will work as a catalyst for the country’s transformation to a green economy.

It is my honor to represent the UN at this fifth Green Economy Forum. We greatly appreciate the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Ministry of Economy for their leadership in today’s forum which brings together key stakeholders from government, development partners, private sector and civil society organizations.  I would also like to commend our co-funding partner GIZ for excellent collaboration and joint support to the last 3 Green Economy Forums.

Today’s event comes at the end of Green Economy Week which has seen no less than 37 different events hosted by various organizations! I believe this impressive activity shows the level of interest, and tremendous Green Economy potential in Kyrgyzstan.

Today’s session follows seven years after the Rio+20 conference highlighted how the green economy could promote the achievement of sustainable development. Recent studies show that about 60% of the world’s ecosystem services are degraded or used unsustainably.   As you know, we only have one planet to live on. Our future and that of our children rely on reversing this alarming trend!

So today I have three key messages:

First, on behalf of the whole UN system let me underscore that the Green economy can serve as a vehicle to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and help reach the targets of the Paris Agreement.  Around the world, Green Economy approaches are promoting new and better jobs, and accelerate technology transfers.  Countries that miss this trend pay a high price for investing in outdated ‘brown” economic growth that supports obsolete technology and which fails to account for the high side-effect costs of degraded natural resources in areas like air and water pollution, unmanaged waste, water, and energy scarcity and greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, we now have comprehensive evidence that the Environmental Negative Impact on Development is responsible for a substantial portion of the global disease burden.

Second, we truly commend the Government’s leadership in putting together a Green Economy policy framework. The strategic leadership, political will, and dedication of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic, Jogorku Kenesh and Ministry of Economy have been key to putting Green Economy on the agenda is Kyrgyzstan. Let us build together on this progress and now move to scale up action.

Indeed, although the theme of Green Economy is new to the Kyrgyz Republic, it is becoming a driving force behind economic growth in Central Asia, and Kyrgyzstan is setting an example for others to follow in terms of the policy.  The Concept note on  “Kyrgyzstan is a country of the green economy” developed with the development partners (including UNDP) technical support and endorsed by the Jogorku Kenesh on June 28, 2018, was a key starting point. The UN team is proud of its role to help the  Government develop and review the Green Economy Programme for the Kyrgyz Republic until 2023. Key priorities include green agriculture, industry and energy, low carbon and environmentally friendly transport, sustainable tourism, green cities, municipal waste management, sustainable finance, fiscal incentives, and sustainable public procurement.  It is no coincidence that these topics link clearly to wider efforts of achieving the SDG - and that efforts are now underway to make sure that integrated monitoring and planning across these frameworks is in place.

As we work to move from policy into action, stepping up partnerships with the private sector, academia and civil society will be essential. We see that global trends support our high hopes that we can work to catalyze partnerships, more investment and collective action towards the Prosperity of People and of our Planet.

My third and final message for today is that the UN system and the wider development community are your steadfast partners in this work! Our support for today’s event comes from a UN Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE)among five UN agencies, which is UNDP, UNEP, UNIDO, UNITAR and ILO offering integrated and holistic support to countries on the inclusive green economy, ensuring coherence and avoiding duplication. The integrated policy support helps to deliver policy guidance that builds on synergies and trade-offs among the SDGs.  Over the past four years, PAGE has helped 18 developing countries develop models of growth that address the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainability. UNDP and UNEP are proud co-leading agencies of the UN PAGE in the Kyrgyz Republic. I also want to highlight that PAGE receives financial support from the EU and governments of Germany, Korea, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Switzerland, without their support this work would not be possible.

Although much work lies ahead as we move to implement inclusive green economy policies and practices, this work will make our lives and communities healthier and of higher quality and ensure the sustainability of our ecosystems for generations to come. 

The UN Secretary-General, Mr. Antonio-Guterres has emphasized that, and I quote, “the future of economic leadership and growth is tied to the green economy. Those that will be betting on the implementation of the Paris Agreement, and on the green economy, will be the ones that have a leading role in the economy of the 21st century.” [End quote.] The message is clear: economies of the future will depend upon green policies and measures. 

We look forward to strengthened partnership and collaboration with the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic as it takes the next decisive steps towards an Inclusive Green Economy in Kyrgyzstan.

Thank you. Chong Rahmat!