The event was held from 24 to 25 January 2018 with participation of the governmental and non-governmental institutions of the Central Asian countries, multilateral development banks, climate scientists and civil society.
The Conference addressed five main topics: climate policy and national actions; science and research in the field of climate change; the climate-sustainable best practices and technologies; funds for adaptation to climate change; and climate information services. The Conference program also included parallel thematic sessions on issues such as sustainable economic development in a changing climate, gender, innovative approaches to adaptation and mitigation of climate change.
The second day of the conference began with presentation of trends and funding opportunities from the international climate funds and multilateral development banks. Data from other parts of the world show that for one US dollar to be invested in addressing the climate issues from the state and multilateral funds, up to $ 7 come from the private sources. There is a different situation in Central Asia: the private investments are a small part of the total amount of financing associated with climate issues in the region. It has been also noted that the emphasis on addressing climate change will be increasing in the global context.
Today, there are a large number of platforms and networks in the region providing information on current research, sustainable technologies and practices in the field of environmental protection, including those related to climate change. For example, the Eurasian riverbp.net river basin management portal provides an interactive map of the best practices on water and energy resources usage, or the Spatial Agent mobile application developed by the World Bank that contains historical observations, precipitation, climate change scenarios, and satellite data. However, while there are many platforms, it is necessary to strengthen the knowledge sources mobilization and different target groups’ accessibility.
The conference was closed with announcement on the forthcoming regional events in the field of environmental protection, in particular the Central Asian International Environmental Forum, which will be held on June 5-7 in Tashkent. Within the framework of the forum it is foreseen to conduct the plenary and sectional sessions, an exhibition and a business platform for dialogue between the "clean" technologies manufacturers and consumers, as well as a press tour for media representatives.
Based on the results of the conference discussions, a final non-binding document will be prepared that will serve as a tool for the national and international partners in their efforts to develop and implement the climate-related projects as well as co-financing and supporting of any other measures that will contribute to the Paris Agreement and Agenda 2030 implementation in the region. The document will be publicly available within a month.
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We remind you that the Conference was organized by the Regional Environmental Center for Central Asia (CAREC) within the framework of the Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Program for Aral Sea Basin (CAMP4ASB) with the involvement of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) and with the support of the World Bank.