ISRS hosts a meeting with OECD delegation

On September 8, the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan (ISRS) hosted a meeting with a delegation from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety of Germany.

It was attended by Kumi Kitamori, Head of the Green Growth and Global Relations Division of the OECD, Jürgen Keinhorst, Head of Cooperation with Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Middle East Department of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Matthew Griffiths, OECD Senior Programme Manager.

The parties discussed promising areas for further enhancing cooperation between Uzbekistan and the OECD on the green agenda – environmental protection, climate change and sustainable development.

ISRS Deputy Director Sanjar Valiyev emphasized that environmental issues have one of the priority places in the Development Strategy of New Uzbekistan. As the expert emphasized, in recent years, under the leadership of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, a multi-level system of public administration in environmental protection has been formed. Several key regulatory and legal acts and strategic documents have been adopted in the field of transition to a green economy and an increase in the share of renewable energy sources by 2030.

He highlighted concrete practical actions for the creation of modern solar and gas turbine power plants, the socio-economic revival of the Aral Sea region by turning it into a zone of environmental innovations and technologies, as well as large-scale landscaping of the country’s territories.
Kumi Kitamori supported the efforts undertaken by Uzbekistan not only in the country, but also in the region. She noted that favorable conditions have developed in Central Asia for the development of cooperation in ecology and environmental protection. In this vein, the OECD representative presented a new long-term project to strengthen regional cooperation, planned to be implemented with the participation of the German government, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as well as the UN and other international organizations.
This project will start on October 15, 2021, during a high-level regional dialogue on the benefits of regional cooperation from the systemic connectivity of the use of energy, water and land resources in Central Asia to be held in Tashkent.

According to OECD Senior Programme Manager Matthew Griffiths, the project aims to address the ambitious challenges posed by the changing climate in Central Asia. It aims to help meet energy and food needs sustainably and equitably.

The OECD intends to organize further work in this area, with a particular focus on economic, financial instruments and information systems needed to promote intersectoral and intergovernmental cooperation and improve water, energy and food security. Such regional cooperation will facilitate the access of the Central Asian countries to international financing through lower risks and higher return on investment.

The priority areas for the development of cooperation between Uzbekistan and the OECD within the framework of the climate agenda were outlined at the meeting. The parties confirmed the importance of further coordination of actions, exchange of information and provision of mutual assistance to effectively implement joint projects of regional importance.

UzA