The Central Asian republics at Cop29

As signatories of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, all five Central Asian republics attend the COP29 event in Baku to discuss on energy transition and global warming.

In fact, Central Asia appears extremely vulnerable to climate change effects: the global warming, the progressive reduction of water availability, floods will provoke massive damages to agriculture – the main economic sector and source of income especially in the rural areas – so triggering tensions and rivalries among different communities, mainly in overpopulated areas such as Ferghana Valley (shared by Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan). Moreover, Pamir and Tien Shan mountainous regions are also dangerously exposed to climate change, which accelerates glacier and permafrost melting consequently destroying the existent ecosystems (Green Central Asia, Regional Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for Central Asia, 2023).

In the months before COP29, Central Asian nations jointly worked to elaborate a common and shared position for the Baku meeting, developing a regional approach that is functional because it is based on the cross-border nature of climate threats, a sensitive issue in terms of security and stability. This approach is coherent with the Green Agenda Regional Program for Central Asia and the Regional Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for Central Asia.

This latest strategy aims at promoting a long-term vision, to achieve sustainable development goals by 2030 by improving climate resilience (Green Central Asia, Regional Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for Central Asia, 2023). The environmental disaster of the Aral Sea (dried-up by 90% of its extension) represents the main test bench for this renewed cooperation.

The International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) involves all five Central Asian republics in a permanent forum for discussion and management of regional environmental issues. It could become a starting point for defining shared and integrated management of water resources between water-rich upstream nations (Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan which would like to develop hydropower projects to satisfy internal and export needs) and downstream countries (Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan) that require large volumes of water for cotton cultivation and agriculture.

In the last years, Central Asian states have concretely started producing clean energy from renewable sources. Uzbekistan has launched several projects for the production of solar and wind energy, with the purpose to increase the share of renewable energy within the national energy mix by up to 40%. Kazakhstan has adopted even more incisive policies to achieve the ambitious goal of climate neutrality by 2060: according to the national energy strategy Kazakhstan intends to cover 15% of electricity with renewable sources by 2030 and 50% by 2050.

At COP29 Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan that have just signed with Azerbaijan a Strategic Partnership Agreement for Green Energy Development and Transmissions. It foresees the parties engaged in realising the Trans-Caspian “green” power line project (Caspian Sea Electricity Project), aimed at transporting renewable energy production (including hydrogen) from Central Asia to the EU through Azerbaijan, after linking with the Green Energy Corridor promoted by Baku, intended to connect the Caucasus with south-eastern Europe via the Black Sea (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan Enter Green Energy Partnership at COP29, Caspian News, November 18, 2024).