Central Asia Climate Change Conference 2021: from ambitious goals to action
On July 26-27, 2021, in Dushanbe (Tajikistan), at the Fourth Central Asia Conference on Climate Change (CACCC-2021), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan will gather to discuss the achieved results and exchange the experience of the climate policy implementation in Central Asia.
The conference will be held as combined in-person and online meeting.
CACCC-2021 is 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 is 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. “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 is 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).
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 enables 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 will be 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 are expected to take part in the conference, as well as government and non-governmental agencies` representatives, academia, climate action youth groups and climate action civil society organisations.
Expected outcomes of CACCC-2021:
1. Strengthened Central Asian countries` dialogue on climate policy implementation, the role of the climate action civil society initiatives and preparation for COP26; the first draft of the Regional Statement presented.
2. Conference participants informed about the risks, vulnerabilities, and national governments` actions to update and raise climate ambition for the successful implementation of the Paris Agreement.
3. Improved understanding of ongoing and planned climate financing programmes; strengthened dialogue among the national governments and international development agencies, multilateral development banks and other donors regarding the opportunities to attract funding to the region of Central Asia.
The conference’s mobile application has been added! The application reflects the agenda of the event, parallel sessions, analytical reports, brief information about speakers, and presentations (please note that the information is being updated).
To register for the conference online, go to the link.
Entry regulations during coronavirus (COVID-19)
The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Tajikistan confirmed that all international participants of the Conference arriving in the Republic of Tajikistan must provide confirmation of a negative PCR test result received no later than 72 hours before arrival. Please note that this must be a COVID-19 PCR test. Other test results, including antibody tests, will not be accepted!
COVID 19 prevention measures during the Conference:
In connection with the epidemiological situation, during the CAREC Conference, maximum precautions and prophylaxis against COVID 19 infection will be taken.
Stationary sanitizers will be installed at the conference and side event venues, and seating in conference rooms will be provided with respect to social (physical) distance.
Conference participants will be provided with disposable medical masks.