Late in December, Kyrgyzstan’s Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, Bakyt Torobayev held a meeting on the fulfillment of the government’s plan of priority measures to improve air quality in the capital city of Bishkek for 2024-2025. The plan was approved in February 2024 and included measures to provide the population with high-calorie coal
The Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation of Kazakhstan has reported that it is releasing water from the country’s reservoirs to make room for receiving snowmelt water in case of flooding next spring. In the spring of 2024, Kazakhstan’s western and northern regions suffered from unprecedented floods caused by the rapid snowmelt. According to
The 20th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP20) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) will be held in the historical city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from November 24 to December 5, 2025. The agreement was signed by Minister of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change Aziz
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan and the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP) last week held an event in Bishkek to mark the declaration of October 23 as International Snow Leopard Day by a resolution of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly. First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Asein
The European Union Ambassador to Uzbekistan, Toivo Klaar recently visited the Tashkent Botanical Garden to see ongoing landscaping and improvement efforts. The European Union has contributed to the enhancement of the Tashkent Botanical Garden, a cherished landmark and one of the largest and oldest natural parks in the region. Nestled in the heart of Tashkent,
The opening of a weather station for the early warning system aimed at protecting the Fergana Valley from climate risks and potential natural disasters was held on December 9 in Batken. This weather station is one of four planned for launch in the region. Similar stations will soon be operational in the pilot communities of
On December 3, during the One Water Summit in Riyadh, the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation of Kazakhstan and the World Bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at enhancing water resource management and promoting environmental sustainability. This MoU, signed following the meeting between President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and World Bank Group
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has taken a major step in strengthening its presence in Central Asia, made possible through the strong support of and cooperation with Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection, and Climate Change. On December 2, the two parties signed a Host Country Agreement, formalizing the establishment of an
From 30 November to 1 December, the Regional Consultative Meeting of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) to discuss the establishment of the United Nations Special Programme for the Aral Sea Basin (UNSPAS) was held in Ashgabat. The proposal to establish the UN Special Programme for the Aral Sea Basin
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Kazakhstan have moved a step closer toward the possible early retirement of a coal plant in Kazakhstan under the bank’s Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM) program. Under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed at COP29 by ADB and Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy, the two sides will work toward a
Kazakhstan’s Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative has been named the winner of the prestigious Earthshot Prize 2024 in the “Protect and Restore Nature” category, awarded by His Royal Highness Prince William. The Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative has received the prestigious prize in recognition of its vision and results to conserve and restore the steppe ecosystem in
The IV International ECOJER Congress and the Transition ceremony of the PAGE (UN Partnership for Action on Green Economy) Partnership took place in the capital of Kazakhstan on October 22. The congress gathered members of the Government of Kazakhstan, representatives of state authorities, business leaders, and representatives of international organizations, UNDP Kazakhstan reported. According to
On October 21, Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev attended a presentation of projects for recycling household waste and producing electricity and products from it, the president’s press service reported. Uzbekistan generates 14 million tons of waste annually. However, only 4-5 percent of it is recycled. Over 7 million tons of greenhouse gases and 43 thousand tons
The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Kazakhstan, in cooperation with the UN Development Programme (UNDP), has successfully completed the next stage of the reintroduction of kulans as part of the Turan tiger habitat restoration initiative. This month, more than 40 kulans were transported from Altyn Emel National Park to the Ile-Balkhash Reserve. In
A memorandum of understanding was signed on 17 October between the specially protected nature areas of Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic on the conservation of the snow leopard. The aim of this cooperation is to conserve the snow leopard and its habitats in the northern Tien Shan Mountains within four Specially Protected Nature Areas (SPNAs)
The “Strengthening Financial Resilience and Accelerating Risk Reduction in Central Asia” program (SFRARR) – funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and the World Bank – hosted a final regional forum in Almaty on October 14-15. The event marked the conclusion of a five-year effort to
The Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation of Kazakhstan said it had sent 977 million cubic meters of water to the Aral Sea during this year’s irrigation season, or 98% of the plan. In recent years, only 350-400 million cubic meters of water flowed into the sea during irrigation seasons. Since the beginning of
One of Kyrgyzstan’s most picturesque places, the Saimaluu-Tash National Nature Park, may face serious environmental risks as parts of its territory may be used for the construction of a railway from China to Uzbekistan, mk.kg reported. One of the key problems is the possible change in the category of land on which the park is
On September 18, Kazakhstan Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov held the first meeting of the Board of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) under the chairmanship of Kazakhstan. The meeting with the heads of delegations of the participating countries of the Fund considered the issues of joint use of transboundary water resources, as
The Government of Japan and UN Development Programme (UNDP) have agreed upon a new $4.9 million project, “Enhancing Urban Resilience to Disaster Risk and Climate Change in Central Asia”. The signing ceremony was held on September 11 in Astana, Kazakhstan. The project aims to enhance urban resilience to climate-driven risks in Central Asia by utilizing regional collaborative mechanisms and national transformational strategies, fostering sustainable
