BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 12
By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
Two more Kazakhstan’s cities were added into the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Green Cities program, Trend reports with reference to EBRD.
The corresponding Memorandum of Understanding signed provides that Ust-Kamenogorsk and Semey cities will benefit from the support offered through EBRD Green Cities in preparing tailored Green City Action Plans (GCAPs) to identify, prioritize and connect their environmental challenges with sustainable infrastructure investments and policy measures.
In the case of Ust-Kamenogorsk and Semey, the trigger investments due for signing by May 2020 are expected to bring more than 30 million euros of investment in local currency to improve solid waste management in both cities.
The planned overhaul of solid waste disposal facilities would bring them up to European Union and national Environmental Code requirements on landfill and recycling. Finland’s Ministry of Economy has provided 500,000 euros of donor funding for a feasibility study.
Kazakhstan generates a significant amount of solid waste, most of which is not sorted and recycled but simply transported and stored in landfills often built in the 1960s, working at or near maximum capacity, and nearing the end of their lifetime.
Cities, which account for 70 percent of energy use and 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, represent a big opportunity to tackle climate change and environmental degradation.
Ust-Kamenogorsk and Semey are the 38th and 39th cities to sign up to EBRD Green Cities. To date, the EBRD has financed 269 projects for nearly 8.4 billion euros in Kazakhstan.
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