BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 3. Uzbekistan held the fourth meeting of its interagency working group on preventing water pollution and ensuring tailings storage safety, as the country moves forward with plans to strengthen environmental protection and industrial safety standards.
This was reflected in the statement published by the National Committee on Ecology and Climate Change of Uzbekistan.
The meeting, held in Tashkent, was organized by the National Committee on Ecology and Climate Change of Uzbekistan together with the Committee on Industrial, Radiation and Nuclear Safety, the Sanitary and Epidemiological Welfare Committee, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents, and the UNECE-WHO/Europe Protocol on Water and Health.
The initiative is being supported financially by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
The session brought together representatives of ministries, regulatory bodies, scientific institutions, international organizations and private-sector enterprises involved in environmental protection, water management, industrial safety and emergency response.
Speaking at the meeting, Javokhir Abdukhalikov said the interagency working group was established in 2024 to support Uzbekistan’s efforts to improve water security, sanitation and protection of water resources from accidental pollution under climate change conditions.
“Today, final versions of these documents have been prepared, and they will serve as the foundation for Uzbekistan’s accession to the Convention and its further implementation,” Abdukhalikov said.
The first meeting of the working group in September 2024 launched the preparation of a roadmap for Uzbekistan’s accession to the UNECE Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents. Subsequent meetings focused on national assessments in water, sanitation, hygiene and health, as well as climate-related risks.
During the latest session, participants reviewed progress on the roadmap, discussed remaining implementation steps and examined measures to prevent accidents at tailings storage facilities, particularly in the context of climate change and natural disasters.
Special attention was given to the near-final package of national target indicators in water supply, sanitation, hygiene and public health, developed under Article 6 of the UNECE-WHO/Europe Protocol on Water and Health.
The participants also approved key recommendations from the second technical seminar on revising these indicators, held in Tashkent on June 30.
According to Trend analysis, Uzbekistan’s intensified work on industrial accident prevention and water governance reflects broader efforts to align with international environmental safety standards. With climate-related risks and industrial waste management becoming increasingly urgent across Central Asia, accession to the UNECE convention could strengthen Uzbekistan’s institutional framework for managing cross-border environmental risks and improving long-term water security.
