Decisive steps towards overcoming climate challenges

The effects of climate change on the environment, water consumption, and food security were also cited as challenges and risks that are relevant to the Central Asian republics.

There was unanimity among summit participants about the necessity for coordinated cooperation in this area as they all expressed worry over the effects of climate change and presented ideas that were comparable to one another.

Kyrgyzstan in particular has initiated a significant endeavor to set up a Regional Center for the introduction of resource- and energy-saving technology. It is consistent with the Turkmen side's suggestion to create a Regional Center on climate change technologies.

In reply, the President of Uzbekistan suggested the establishment of a multilateral forum called "Central Asian Dialogue" at the level of ecology ministers, as well as drafting a Regional Strategy on Climate Change Adaptation.

Furthermore, the President of Uzbekistan announced the first Samarkand international forum dedicated to the climate topic in 2023, as well as initiated the joint submission of a UN General Assembly resolution titled “Central Asia in front of global climate challenges: consolidation for a common future.”

Without a doubt, the Samarkand Forum has the potential to become a multilateral venue for full debate of Central Asian initiatives and the establishment of broad international support for regional efforts to confront climate change and adapt to its repercussions.

We cannot but appreciate Central Asian governments' environmental action, and all proposals put forward by Central Asian countries should be viewed as components of regional efforts to address climate concerns. This dynamic is critical in the context of the impending Regional Climate Summit in Kazakhstan in 2026 under the auspices of the United Nations, which President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed during the Astana Forum this summer.

Akramjon Nematov,

first deputy director of the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan