ASTANA, Kazakhstan, September 28. Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan Yerlan Nysanbayev and representative of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Huseyin Ozhan discussed a number of issues in the fields of ecology, climate change, and Kazakhstan’s possible accession to the Global Methane Commitment and Trend Reports.
The Ministry, together with interested government bodies, is already working to develop a unified position on joining this commitment.
The parties also discussed the development of a roadmap for the implementation of the carbon neutrality strategy.
During the meeting, the EBRD presented a new program aimed at greening financial systems in a number of countries through the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
As EBRD representatives noted, this program will not only create a favorable investment environment for joint activities in the field of climate change and economic growth but will also accelerate the introduction of innovations in business models, financial instruments, and technologies to prevent climate change.
The strategy for achieving carbon neutrality in the Republic of Kazakhstan until 2060 was approved by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in February of this year.
The main directions for achieving carbon neutrality are:
decarbonization of emissions from energy production and use;
decarbonization of emissions not related to energy use;
absorption and compensation measures.
Methane emissions are a major factor in increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Thus, at the 26th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, more than 100 countries joined the Global Methane Commitment, initiated by the US and the EU, with the goal of collectively reducing methane emissions by at least 30 percent from 2020 levels. Joining the pledge will incentivize reductions in methane emissions and contribute to the country's decarbonization goals.
