Organized by the Regional Environmental Center 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 4th Central Asia Conference on Climate Change (CACCC-2021) took place in Dushanbe on July 26-27, 2021. It reportedly brought together representatives of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan 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.
In the framework of the Conference, a high-level segment with participation of the Ministers of Environmental Protection and Ecology of the Central Asian countries was organized 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).
CACCC-2021 provided 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 was 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.
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.
Conference participants reportedly informed about the risks, vulnerabilities, and national governments` actions to update and raise climate ambition for the successful implementation of the Paris Agreement.
Speaking at the conference, the Minister of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources of Kazakhstan Magzum Mirzagaliyev proposed to consider the idea of setting up the climate change learning hub in the region.
According to him the cub could deal with green growth issues in the region through implementation of projects, technology transfer and knowledge exchange.
Mirzagaliyev proposed to locate the hub in Kazakhstan.
Green growth means fostering economic growth and development while ensuring that natural assets continue to provide the resources and environmental services on which peoples well-being relies.
