Opening of the CAREC country office in Kazakhstan – outcomes of the conference
April 12, 2017, with the support of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, CAREC held an international conference “Cooperation on development of green economy in the context of sustainable development in the Republic of Kazakhstan and Central Asia: new opportunities, advantages and benefits from regional cooperation”.
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The conference is timed to the opening of the country office of CAREC in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Representatives of the ministries of energy, agriculture, labor and social protection, deputies of the Majilis of the Parliament, members of the Nur Otan party, Embassies of Germany, Finland, the USA, Turkmenistan, the UK and the Kyrgyz Republic, representatives of the OSCE Programme Office in Astana, the European Union, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe attended the conference.
The participants discussed the connection between national, regional and global processes towards transition to a green economy in Kazakhstan. In particular, obligations under the Paris climate agreement were negotiated, in which the country committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15% by 2030, but with additional financial support, this bar can be raised to 25 %. Taking into account the fact that the country located in a zone of sharply continental climate, these ambitious plans require great transformations.
CAREC office in Kazakhstan is designed to promote the principles of a green economy in the country. One of the priorities of the branch is to facilitate the implementation of the Concept of transition to a low-carbon development in order to meet the interests of present and future generations.
"Country approaches of green economy enables to work and focus strategically for CAREC Office in Kazakhstan to participate in shaping of appropriate policies in the field of environment and development, respond to the challenges arising from economic diversification, urbanization, water management of the country", Executive Director of the CAREC, Dr. Iskandar Abdullayev, commented on the meeting.
During the conference, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan and CAREC on coordination and joint efforts for effective implementation of the green growth policy.
"The Ministry of Energy sees a successful and fruitful cooperation with CAREC in promoting innovative tools for greening the economy, including sustainable production and consumption, energy efficiency, business engagement and education ecologization in the transition of Kazakhstan to a green economy and low-carbon development and participation in EXPO-2017", concluded Mr. Sadibekov.
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Priority plans of the CAREC Country Office in Kazakhstan for the near future are participation in the thematic session on low carbon technologies within EXPO 2017.