Antalya, 11 November. Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed developing a regional model of climate integration, the Uzbekistan National News Agency UzA reported.
He spoke in Antalya at the World Leaders Summit of the 31st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP31) and proposed starting with three tracks: information, technology and finance.
Mirziyoyev said that threats such as melting glaciers, water scarcity and extreme droughts are growing in Central Asia and cannot be tackled alone. The first track is information: with the help of the World Meteorological Organization he proposed building infrastructure for exchanging information on climate risks. The second is technology: Uzbekistan is ready to make the ECO-EXPO exhibition a permanent investment and technology platform for environmental solutions adapted to the region. The third is finance: Mirziyoyev proposed working out, with development banks and dedicated funds, new support instruments, including concessional grants and mechanisms of “blue” and “arid” finance. He urged participants to fill the idea with practical content and to apply the model in all interested regions of the world.
The president also gave figures on Uzbekistan’s own results. The country met ahead of schedule its target of cutting emissions per unit of GDP by 35 percent and set a new bar: a 50 percent cut by 2035. Over ten years the water intensity of the economy has almost halved and water withdrawal has fallen by a fifth; water-saving technologies cover more than 60 percent of irrigated fields. The area of forest plantations has grown by six million hectares, a third of them planted in the Aral Sea region. According to UzA, heads of state and government of more than 90 countries are taking part in the summit.
What it means: Tashkent’s proposal is not a new treaty but a framework in which the countries of the region would exchange data, technology and financing. UzA names no deadlines, participants or budget. Kazakhstan is not mentioned in the report.
Background: Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov spoke at the same conference. According to the Government, he also spoke about water and recalled the Regional Environmental Summit hosted by Astana in April, which adopted the Declaration on Ecological Solidarity of Central Asia. Neither side’s reports say anything about coordinating these initiatives.
We have also reported on how Kazakhstan presented a unified climate investment platform at COP31.
