The Fourth Central Asia Climate Change Conference (CACCC 2021) will be held on July 26-27, 2021, in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The conference will be conducted as a mix of in-person and virtual meetings.
The objective of the conference is to strengthen the regional dialogue, information and knowledge exchange in order to support climate-resilient evidence-based decision-making systems, as well as to explore the possibilities to ensure the synergy in climate projects implementation between international finance organisations and the development agencies in Central Asia.
A series of our publications will be dedicated to the speakers and moderators of the upcoming event. And, today, we would like to introduce you to Bulat Yessekin, Coordinator of the Regional Platform on Water and Environment of Central Asia, acting Chairman of the Public Consultative Council of CAREC. He will be a speaker at the thematic session dedicated to climate policy and the role of civil society.
Bulat Yessekin is known as an expert and successful leader in the field of climate change, water resources and sustainable development. In the first years of Kazakhstan's independence, he actively participated in the creation of a national environmental protection system, the development of the Law on Environmental Protection, the Water Code, the Law on the protection of flora and fauna.
In 1989-1991, he was the head of the department of environmental management of the State Committee for Nature Protection of the Republic of Kazakhstan; he worked on the creation of a republican system of environmental protection funds, the introduction of payments for pollution, a system of compensation for damage. In 1992-1994, he worked as the head of the department for the problems of the Aral, the Caspian and the Semipalatinsk test site, head of the Main Directorate of State Control of Kazakhstan. In 1994-1997, he was the Chairman of the Committee for Nature Protection of Alma-Ata.
Starting from 1997, Mr. Yessekin continued his career in international programs as a project manager of the World Bank and UNDP for the development of the National Environmental Program of Kazakhstan (NEAP). In 1998, Yessekin B.K. established the National Environmental Center to coordinate all environmental agreements at the national level. During the development of the Kyoto Protocol, the UNFCCC (1997-2001), he was a key advisor to the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and, also, he initiated the adoption of voluntary quantitative commitments by Kazakhstan and the country's entry into Annex 1 of the Convention.
He has been the national coordinator for the UN on sustainable development on behalf of Kazakhstan for over 15 years. Besides, in 1998, he initiated the creation of CAREC and was its first director, building the political, legal, financial and technical foundations of this organization. He also supervised the preparation of regional reports and proposals on behalf of the governments of the CA countries: “CA Initiative: Environment, Water and Security”, “Invitation to Partnership”, “Report of the CA countries on the progress on the implementation of Agenda-21”. In preparation for RIO + 5, RIO + 10 (Johannesburg) and RIO + 20 (Rio de Janeiro), Mr. Yessekin negotiated national and regional proposals, including the Green Bridge Partnership Program, approved the outcome documents of the conferences in Asia (ESCAP, 2010), Europe (UNECE, 2011) and at the global level, particularly at the RIO + 20 Summit (2012). In 2011-2012, he prepared the first report on the prospects for a green economy in Kazakhstan, which became the basis for the national development strategy and the concept for a green economy in Kazakhstan.
In 2017, he started to initiate the creation of a regional CA network for the dissemination of available technologies for adaptation to climate change, leads the development of national proposals of the Republic of Kazakhstan on updating the regional programs of CA (RPOSUR and ASBP-4). He currently works on creating a Regional Platform on Water Resources and Ecosystems of Central Asia with the involvement of more than 170 experts and NGOs.
Stay tuned for further updates to know more about other interesting speakers of the CACCC-2021.
