Central Asia Climate Change Conference (CACCC-2025) “Achieving the Global Climate Finance Goal through Regional and National Actions in Central Asia”

May 13-15, 2025 Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

Date and place of birth: November 11, 1982, Republic of Tajikistan. 
Nationality: Tajik 

Country of citizenship: Republic of Tajikistan 

Country of current residence and work: Republic of Kazakhstan 
Position Name: Executive Director 

Organization: Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC) 

Mr. Zafar Makhmudov is the Executive Director of the Regional Environmental 
Centre for Central Asia (CAREC).   

His main areas of professional expertise and activities are related to the mainstreaming climate change adaptation and mitigation into national development plans and strategies. Prior to joining CAREC, Mr.  Makhmudov served as the Head of the Project Implementation Unit at the Committee for Environment  Protection under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan, where he coordinated projects on natural  resource management at all levels of their implementation, including project development, structuring,  negotiation, execution and monitoring. He negotiated the initiation of new projects, which are carried out in close cooperation with a number of international development partners, in close coordination with the donor community and concerted actions of the multilateral development banks by providing access to climate and environmental funds with the support of the National Coordinator. The portfolio of implemented projects included the PPCR project in Tajikistan “Environmental Land Management and Improving Livelihoods in Rural Areas” and the “Program for Adaptation to Climate Change and Mitigation of Its Consequences in the Aral Sea Basin”. 

Mr. Zafar Makhmudov also served as the Senior Advisor to the Chairman of the Committee on Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement of 2030. As a member of the Board of the Climate Investment Funds and Co-chair of the Pilot Program Committee for Climate Resilience, he  has advanced experience in managing and preparing National Adaptation Plans, a National Adaptation  Strategy for Climate Change, National Environmental Plan and extensive experience in conducting  negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and other  climate related funds.  

Tatiana Proskuryakova is the World Bank’s Regional Director for the Central Asia region that encompasses five countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Prior to this appointment, she served as the Country Manager for Romania and Hungary during 2017-2021, Country Manager in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro based in Sarajevo since 2015, Country Manager in North Macedonia during 2013-14, and Country Operations Adviser for Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay during 2010-13.

Ms. Proskuryakova joined the World Bank in 1992 and throughout her career she has held various positions both in headquarters and in field offices, including in operations (in Europe and Central Asia Region and in Latin America and the Caribbean Region), portfolio management (in Latin America Department of Development Effectiveness), and corporate strategy (in Operational Policy and Country Services Vice Presidency). From 2003-2007, Ms. Proskuryakova was Senior Advisor representing the Russian Federation at the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors. Ms. Proskuryakova holds an M.Sc. in Economics/Political Economy from the Moscow State University, Russia, and an M. Phil. in Economics from the University of Oxford, UK

Speaker at the session “Regional collaboration and climate financing for sustainable development”

Mr. Torsten Brezina serves as the GIZ Cluster Coordinator for Regional Programmes in Central Asia since August 2017. In this position, he holds strategic responsibilities for the implementation of projects and programmes in the areas of climate change adaptation, natural resources management, disaster risk management, and political dialogue on climate and environment.

Since 2001 Mr. Brezina has been working in GIZ in various positions, including Country Director in Uzbekistan 2014-2017 and Head of Programmes in Central Asia, Russia, and Ukraine.

Mr. Brezina draws on more than two decades of professional experience in sustainable development and regional cooperation, strategy, and policymaking.                  With his experience in the fields, Mr. Brezina has built a broad vision of the climate-natural resources-land use- regional dialogue, of its stakeholders, of economic and strategic challenges on the path of sustainable economic development and stability. His assignments included operations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Speaker at Parallel Session C.2: Building Climate Resilience on Local Level 

In 2019, Turakul Murodov was appointed as Head of the National Coordination Group of the Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Program for the Aral Sea Basin (CAMP4SAB) Project under the Committee for Environmental Protection under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan. This project is funded by the Green Climate Fund through the World Bank.

 Mr. Murodov is also Head of the Secretariate of the National Authorized Agency to liaise with the Green Climate Fund. 

Between 2010 and 2019, he headed various projects funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Tajikistan, and worked as a national consultant in UNDP, ADB, JICA and USAID projects.

He has over 13 years of experience in the field of environmental protection and climate change.

Alexey Kokorin has nearly 45 years of experience in climate issues. He is the author of more than 190 scientific and popular works on the underlying physical causes and consequences of climate change, international climate cooperation, education and popularization of scientific knowledge. In 1981, Kokorin graduated with honors from Lomonosov Moscow State University, Physics Department. In 1984, he received his PhD degree in physics and mathematics from the same university. For over 15 years he worked at the Institute of Global Climate and Ecology of Roshydromet (Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring) and the Russian Academy of Sciences, where he progressed from junior to lead researcher.

Since the late 1980s, he participated as a leading author in the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for the dissemination of scientific knowledge on climate change among thousands of scientists who contributed to this work. In 2017, Mr. Kokorin was awarded the badge "Honorary Conservationist of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Russia", as well as the certificate of honor of Roshydromet for many years of diligent work.

Since 1994, Alexey Kokorin actively participates in the work of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in the 1990s - as a member of the Russian delegation, and for the last 20 years - as an observer and independent expert. From 2000 till Summer 2023, he was the Director of Climate Program of WWF-Russia (in March 2023, the organization was included in the Russian Registry of Foreign Agents).

Over many years of his work, Alexey Kokorin has been the leader or leading expert on over 30 climate projects of UNEP, UNDP, the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, Fund of Presidential Grants and a number of international and national cooperation agencies. In recent years he became involved in activities in the Central Asia, in particular in the promotion of adaptation to climate change. From Summer 2023 till Spring 2024, he was consultant of the Central Asia Regional Ecological Centre. He also represents countries of the region in the special expert group of non-governmental organizations working on climate issues and the UNFCCC (Policy Coordination Group of the Climate Action Network). Since February 2024, Alexey Kokorin has been an expert on climate issues in the Russian “Nature and People” Foundation, where, in particular, he is in charge of preparing analytical materials on different aspects of the climate issues.

Through his work with the media Mr. Kokorin is actively involved in communicating scientific information on climate change to the public at large. Over the past 20 years he provided about 4,000 interviews to Russian and foreign media. Alexey Kokorin is constantly analyzing the activities of the UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement; since 2000, twice a year, he has been preparing detailed information reviews for specialists in Russia and neighboring countries. 

Senior Environmental Specialist in Environment, Natural Resources, and the Blue Economy

 Speaker at the Parallel Session D1 “Resilient Landscapes for Sustainable Development: Strategies, Innovations, and Partnerships” 

Asferachew Abate is Senior Environmental Specialist in Environment, Natural Resources, and the Blue Economy at the World Bank. Asferachew is Task Team Leader for Tajikistan RESILAND and the Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Program for Aral Sea Basin Projects. Asferachew joined the Bank in 2011 in the Ethiopia Country Office where he successfully led operations on sustainable land and forest management in Ethiopia, Sudan, Ghana, and India. He provided environmental safeguards support for many projects and played a key role in building clients capacity on safeguards. Prior to joining the Bank Asferachew had over 15 years of experience in environment and sustainable development by working in governmental and non-governmental organizations that included Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Heinrich Böll Foundation, and Ethiopia Wildlife and Natural History Society.  Asferachew holds a PhD in ecology from Bayreuth University, Germany.

Director, Knowledge and Learning, NDC Partnership

Speaker at Opening Plenary and Panel Session 2 “Climate capacity, innovation and financing: needs and opportunities”

Amanda McKee is the Director for Knowledge and Learning with the NDC Partnership Support Unit. She oversees the development of knowledge products and learning activities to support NDC implementation and ambition-raising efforts across the Partnership members and beyond. Previously, Amanda managed the Partnership’s Climate Action Enhancement Package (CAEP), supporting 67 developing countries to enhance their NDCs as part of the 2020 update process. This included disbursement of the Partnership's $30 million Technical Assistance Fund. Amanda has spent much of her career fostering collaboration to promote learning across sectors and disciplines to tackle policy challenges in the fields of climate change, green growth, and sustainable development.

Before joining the NDC Partnership, Amanda led knowledge management efforts for the Green Growth Knowledge Platform (GGKP), helping to shape global research efforts to support policy action on green growth, and encourage collaboration across multilateral organizations and research institutes. Prior to this, Amanda worked on trade and environment issues with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the UN’s International Trade Centre. This included contributions to the WTO/UN Environment report on Trade and Climate Change, development of training materials and delivery of training courses to government officials and small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). She is a Canadian citizen and holds a Master’s degree in International Economics from the Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland.

Deo Gabinete is a Regional Manager for the NDC Partnership Support Unit based at the UNFCCC Regional Collaboration Center in Bangkok, Thailand. He coordinates the implementation of the Partnership’s activities related to all the stages of country engagement and knowledge strategies in Eastern Europe, Asia, and the Pacific, and represents the Support Unit at national and regional fora relevant to NDC implementation. 

Before joining the Support Unit, he served as a liaison for the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN), where he coordinated CTCN's technical assistance, capacity building and networking activities for Asia-Pacific countries. He also led the Climate and Disaster Resilience programme of the Food and Agriculture Organization in the Philippines and supported the development and management of the country office's project portfolio on disaster risk reduction and management, climate change, fisheries, and ICT. He has been supporting government and non-government stakeholders, throughout his career, to increase their capacities to mainstream climate change and disaster resilience into development planning and policy implementation.

GIZ

Sergey leads the programme “Climate Risk Management in Central Asia” implemented by GIZ on behalf of German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), working across all five countries on the cross-section of climate change, water resources management, DRR and transboundary cooperation. His previous assignments included coordinating regional GIZ projects in South-East Asia, negotiating on topics of climate finance and carbon markets, and working in different roles at the UNFCCC secretariat. He holds Master of Science in Physics and MBA from the London Business School.

CAREC Regional Climate Action Hub (ReCATH) Manager

Speaker and Moderator 

-       Parallel Session B.1: Central Asia’s Readiness in Developing First Biennial Transparency Reports (BTR) under Enhanced Transparency Frameworks of the Paris Agreement

-       Panel Session 3: The Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Program for Aral Sea Basin (CAMP4ASB): Achievements, Lessons Learned, and Future Direction (Session 2: Integrating Regional Efforts and Forward-Looking Strategies)

-       World Bank 3rd RESILAND CA Technical Retreat  

Dilovarsho Dustzoda, Regional Climate Action Hub (ReCATH) Manager of the Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC) that encompasses five countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Before this appointment, he served as the Head of the International Relations and Environmental Conventions Department of the Committee for Environmental Protection under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan (2021-2023), Director of the Agency for Hydrometeorology of the Republic of Tajikistan (2020-2021), Director of the National Biodiversity and Biosafety Center (2019-2021). From 2003 to 2019, he had senior positions in the Committee for Environmental Protection under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan.

Since 2001, Mr Dustzoda has held management positions in several projects of international organizations (UNDP, World Bank, WWF, UNEP, GIZ), where he supervised projects on environmental protection, biodiversity, biosafety, protected areas, genetic resources and climate change.

He served as the National Focal Point for the UNFCCC and the permanent representative of WMO from Tajikistan. Being a member of COP/MOP UNCBD Bureue and member of several committees under these conventions, he has represented the Central and Eastern Europe region.

Mr. Dustzoda holds an International Relations Master's Degree from the Tajik National University.

Speaker at parallel session B.3: WEF Nexus Next Steps

Dmitry Petrin is a Senior operations officer of the World Bank Central Asia Regional office responsible for coordination of regional engagement agenda, development and update of the Regional Engagement Framework for Central Asia, operational support and policy guidance in connection with the preparation, approval, implementation, and evaluation of operational products and analytical works at regional and cross-regional levels. Serve as focal point to coordinate the Bank's high-level dialogue with other regional entities (e.g., other IFIs, CAREC, etc), internal and external parties (e.g., cooperation agencies and other international organizations) and monitor other regional engagements e.g., EU CA Strategy, China Belt and Road, US CA Strategy etc.

From 1993 contributed to preparation and implementation support of projects of the WB, EBRD, EU, DFID, New Development Bank, Foundation for Enterprise Restructuring. He was responsible for coordinating the activities of the project implementation team with partners and government agencies. 

Speaker at Panel Session 3: Climate financing: needs and opportunities

Étienne Espagne is Senior Climate Economist at the World Bank EFI chief economist office and an associate researcher at CERDI. His research focuses on building theories, models, and methodologies to assess the macro-financial aspects of low-carbon policies as well as climate and nature impacts, especially in the developing and emerging economies context. He co-leads two major programs at the World Bank on analytical tool development and capacity development for finance ministries. Prior to this, as a senior economist at AFD (Agence Française de Développement), the bilateral development bank for the French government, he developed and contributed to a research program on the modelling and evaluation of climate damages, adaptation, and mitigation strategies in developing and emerging economies. Dr. Espagne holds a PhD in environmental economics from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) and is also a graduate from the French École des Mines de Paris and the Paris School of Economics. He has published several papers in academic journals in the field of climate change and energy economics and regularly teaches at Paris 1 University, EHESS, Ecole Polytechnique and ENSTA Paristech. He has previously worked at France Stratégie, CEPII and CIRED.

Evetta Zenina, a specialist with broad experience in climate change, natural resources and sustainable management, from January 2019 taking up duties as Natural Resources Officer (Climate Change) in subregional office of FAO (Turkiye and Central Asia).  She is technically supporting countries of the region in the area of climate change and sustainable management of land and water, disaster risk reduction (DRR) to respond to the challenges posed by climate change and to implement and deliver on their climate commitments under the Paris Agreement.

She has expertise on managing the projects on   sustainable and resilient agrifood systems that provide a variety of solutions that respond to the climate crisis challenges and contribute to restoring degraded natural and managed ecosystems. Through the research, preparation of publications and supporting tool and methodologies development, she tailors and pilots good practices and innovative solutions, in the diverse range of regional, country and community to transform agrifood systems, policies supported by sustainable governance and appropriate legal and institutional frameworks.

Evetta holds Masters degrees in Economics from the Lomonosov Moscow State University and Sustainable Natural Resources Management from the Humboldt University of Berlin. She was also engaged as an Intern at Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and wrote her master thesis there with the research focus on the global agricultural efficiency respective to the GHG emissions by applying quantitative analysis, qualitative methodologies and data collection methods.

Before joining FAO, Evetta worked in United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in the Chemicals and Health Branch in Geneva. She supported the management of the Special Programme projects on Institutional Strengthening (Basel, Rotterdam, Stockholm and Minamata Conventions related projects) with developing, least developed countries and economies in transition. Also, she is the co-author of several publications. 

Ms. Nailia Timerkhanova (Mustaeva) has 15 years of professional experience in climate change and sustainable development. She has been working with UNDP, CAREC and UNEP on climate resilience, transparency and climate reporting under the UNFCCC in all five countries of Central Asia. At present, she cooperates with ICAT/CAREC and UNEP-CCC on regional and global initiatives on capacity building for transparency in Central Asia and the Caucasus.