Tajikistan Environment - The Times Of Central Asia

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Fueling Growth: IFC Strategic Initiatives for Sustainable Development in Central Asia – An Interview With Hela Cheikhrouhou

With its headquarters in Washington, D.C. the International Finance Corporation (IFC) was established in 1956 as the private-sector arm of the World Bank. The institution offers advisory, and asset-management services to promote investment in developing countries. Recent ventures in Central Asia include solar power projects in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, and an entrepreneurship scheme for women and young people in Tajikistan. TCA spoke with Hela Cheikhrouhou, IFC Vice President for the Middle East, Central Asia, Türkiye, Afghanistan, and Pakistan about the IFC’s work in Central Asia. TCA: Can you please give us an overview of IFC's performance in Central Asia for fiscal year 2024 (July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024)? IFC had a pivotal year in Central Asia, making strides in sustainable development and inclusive growth across the region. Our efforts concentrated on climate finance, infrastructure, agriculture, and supporting smaller businesses. By coupling investments with advisory support, we helped expand the role of the private sector, creating jobs, promoting financial inclusion, strengthening infrastructure, and supporting the region's green transition. In the fiscal year 2024, IFC committed over $1 billion to Central Asia. This includes about $400 million in long-term financing from our own account, $600 million in mobilization, and $35 million in short-term trade and supply-chain finance to facilitate trade flows. Alongside these financial commitments, we engaged in advisory projects focused on improving financial inclusion, developing innovative public-private partnerships (PPPs), and advancing climate initiatives and gender equality. Our results this year underscore our commitment to fostering sustainable, inclusive growth, and enhancing the resilience and sustainability of Central Asian economies. TCA: Can you highlight some of the IFC’s key achievements in Central Asia this year? In addition to the strong financial commitments mentioned earlier, IFC expanded its presence in various sectors, including finance, capital markets, renewable energy, agriculture, and infrastructure. Through our advisory services, we helped structure impactful PPPs at the sectoral level. A major focus this year has been strengthening local financial markets. IFC invested $228 million across ten financial institutions in Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Up to half this amount was dedicated to supporting women entrepreneurs and rural enterprises. We also helped these financial institutions expand portfolios related to their micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) businesses, advance climate finance, foster digital transformation, and issue the region’s first sustainability, social, and green bonds. Supporting MSMEs has enabled entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and generate employment. In the past fiscal year alone, IFC-supported projects created around 35,000 direct jobs, including opportunities for over 13,000 women across the region. These efforts have been further bolstered by targeted investments and projects in individual countries across the region. In Uzbekistan, IFC, together with the World Bank, financed a new solar plant equipped with the country’s first battery energy storage system. Once completed, the plant is expected to provide electricity access to around 75,000 households in the Bukhara region. As part of its broader support for the Uzbek government’s efforts to reform its chemical sector, IFC assisted the State Asset Management Agency in privatizing Ferganaazot,...

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ADB Launches ‘Glaciers to Farms’ Initiative to Combat Climate Change in Central Asia

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has unveiled a new regional initiative, Glaciers to Farms, aimed at promoting sustainable water management and food security in Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and Pakistan. The program addresses the severe effects of accelerated glacial melt caused by climate change. Backed by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), ADB will conduct risk assessments of glacial melt in Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan to establish a scientific and technical foundation for the program. Regional Cooperation for Glacier Preservation On November 14 in Baku, Azerbaijan, a declaration of support for glacier preservation was signed by several regional leaders: Azerbaijan’s Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Mukhtar Babayev, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Yerlan Nyssanbayev, Kyrgyzstan’s Minister of Natural Resources, Ecology and Technical Supervision Meder Mashiev, Tajikistan’s Committee on Environmental Protection Chairman Bahodur Sheralizoda, and Uzbekistan’s Minister of Ecology, Environmental Protection, and Climate Change Aziz Abdukhakimov. They were joined by ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa and GCF Chief Investment Officer Henry Gonzalez. “As melting glaciers change water flows, disrupt lives, and destroy ecosystems, we must act now,” said Asakawa. “As Asia and the Pacific’s climate bank, we are pleased to be joined by key partners to launch this program to drive international collaboration and deliver results where they matter most—on the ground, in communities at risk.” The Urgent Need for Action Temperatures in the region are expected to rise by up to 6 degrees Celsius by 2100. The resulting loss of glacial mass poses a dire threat to ecosystems, jeopardizing water supplies for agriculture and hydropower and endangering the livelihoods of over 380 million people. The Glaciers to Farms program aims to mobilize up to $3.5 billion in funding from ADB, GCF, governments, development partners, and the private sector. Beyond investments in water and agriculture, the program will prioritize vulnerable communities in fragile mountain regions that are most threatened by glacial melt. Global and Regional Efforts The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2025 the International Year of Glacier Preservation, with Tajikistan set to host the International Conference on Glaciers’ Preservation in Dushanbe next year. At a high-level event in Baku on November 12, Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon underscored the importance of preventing further glacier melt and preserving fragile ecosystems. Rahmon highlighted the establishment of the International Trust Fund for the Preservation of Glaciers under the United Nations’ auspices and noted the UN’s recent adoption of a resolution—initiated by Tajikistan and France—declaring 2025-2034 the Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences. This resolution calls for enhanced efforts to safeguard glaciers globally. Rahmon also proposed creating a Regional Coordination Center for Glaciology in Dushanbe under the World Meteorological Organization’s guidance. The center would study the impact of climate change on glaciers in collaboration with development partners.

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COP29: Tajikistan Goes for Green as Pollution, Climate Change Take Toll

Tajikistan’s longtime president has said his country plans to switch entirely to renewable sources of energy by 2032, though a recent World Bank report warns that climate change is already threatening Tajikistan’s energy and water security, which are key to development. At the United Nations climate conference in Azerbaijan, President Emomali Rahmon said on Tuesday that Tajikistan’s goal was to become a “green” country by 2037, a reference to low carbon and resource efficiency goals. “Today, 98% of our electricity is produced by hydropower, and Tajikistan's share in the amount of greenhouse gas emissions is small” compared to many other countries, said Rahmon, who has been in power since 1994. “However, achieving the above goals requires a lot of effort and money from us.” He told delegates at the COP29 meeting in Baku that Tajikistan is cooperating with development partners, “especially global financial institutions.” In a report released last week, the World Bank cautioned that Tajikistan’s growth model has “reached its limits” despite robust economic development and poverty reduction in the last two decades. It said domestic institutions are weak, the private sector is underdeveloped and Tajikistan’s economic aspirations will be on hold unless it implements structural reforms. “Degraded agricultural land, along with risks of increasing water scarcity, raises major risks to the productivity of crop and livestock sectors, critical to the livelihoods of the majority of Tajiks. Air pollution is rife, with Dushanbe’s measure of particulate matter far exceeding regional averages and other cities affected,” it said. The World Bank acknowledged Tajikistan’s plan to improve infrastructure for hydropower development, clean energy, and water storage to address the challenges of climate change. But it said the effects of global warming, including glacier melting and extended droughts, could undermine development goals and drive an increase in poverty. Tajikistan’s big hope is that the Rogun hydropower plant, which has been under construction since 2007 and is partly operating, can play a transformative role in electricity generation in Tajikistan but also as a clean energy exporter to other countries in Central Asia. The project has faced delays, cost overruns and criticism from environmental and rights groups. The World Bank, one of the international backers of the project, said the success of the Rogun plant, which will have a total generation capacity of 3,780 megawatts, will depend on “enhanced governance and transparency, dedicated supervision support, and a sustainable macroeconomic framework.”

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Kazakhstan Secures Agreement for 11 Billion Cubic Meters of Water from Neighboring Countries by April 2025

Kazakhstan will receive approximately 11 billion cubic meters of irrigation water from the Syr Darya River by April 2025, following an agreement made by Nurzhan Nurzhigitov, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, with representatives from neighboring Central Asian countries. The accord was reached at the 87th meeting of the Interstate Coordination Water Management Commission held last week in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, and attended by water ministry leaders from Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, with Kyrgyzstan as an observer. This substantial water supply is expected to fill the Shardara reservoir in southern Kazakhstan by April 1, 2025, providing enough water for the region's 2025 irrigation season. Given Kazakhstan’s reliance on irrigation for agriculture, particularly in the arid south, the flow from upstream countries like Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan is vital. Nurzhigitov noted, "This year, thanks to negotiations and joint actions, we ensured the effective water distribution in the Syrdarya River basin. Agreements on water and energy cooperation with Kyrgyzstan were implemented, and measures were taken to coordinate the operating mode of the Bakhri-Tojik reservoir [in Tajikistan] during this year’s irrigation season.”

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Central Asian Leaders Arrive in Azerbaijan for UN COP29 Climate Summit

The 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) opened in Azerbaijan's capital Baku on November 11, drawing approximately 50,000 participants, including government representatives, politicians, investors, and environmentalists from 198 countries. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev attended the Summit, where he was welcomed by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Tokayev will open the plenary session and hold talks with various heads of state, as well as representatives of international organizations and businesses. Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov has also arrived at the conference and is scheduled to address the opening session on November 12. He will participate in the special session “High-Level Dialogue: Advancing the Mountain Agenda and Mainstreaming Mountains and Climate Change,” organized by Kyrgyzstan with the support of Azerbaijan and Mongolia. This discussion will also feature Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh, Nepali President Ram Chandra Poudel, and representatives of international organizations. Russia is represented at the summit by its Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. Additionally, representatives of the Taliban, which the UN does not recognize as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, have been included in the delegation for the first time. Armenia, however, has not yet confirmed its participation due to ongoing territorial disputes with Azerbaijan. The Summit is being held at the Baku Olympic Stadium, with sessions set to conclude on November 22. COP29 has been termed a “finance summit” due to its primary focus on financing developing nations in the fight against climate change. Delegates are also working to establish a framework to improve national emissions reduction programs.

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Rogun HPP Faces Criticism for Violating World Bank Standards

The international environmental coalition Rivers without Boundaries has released a report titled “Rogun Hydroelectric Power Plant Project: Non-Compliance Report with World Bank Requirements.” Outlining how the Rogun HPP in Tajikistan fails to meet the World Bank’s environmental and social standards, the report highlights violations in six key areas: environmental assessment, biodiversity protection, resource efficiency, dam safety, public participation, and forced displacement. It also highlights non-compliance with the bank’s policies on financing investment projects. The report’s authors point out that the situation worsened as a result of the World Bank taking responsibility for developing environmental and social safeguards for the Rogun HPP project on behalf of all financiers, including major banks like the AIIB, ADB, and EIB. In accepting this move, these institutions have effectively treated the World Bank's standards as their own. Therefore, if these standards are violated, the standards of other financial institutions are also breached. “We are convinced that the presented version of the Rogun HPP project does not comply with the social and environmental principles of the World Bank and should not be financed by international development banks in its current form,” said Evgeny Simonov, coordinator of the international environmental coalition 'Rivers Without Borders.' “Due to non-compliance with banking standards and procedures, the project includes many ineffective and risky elements that could lead to serious environmental and social damage during its implementation.” The report was created under the international Rogun Alert initiative, which represents environmental organizations worldwide. Last week, it was sent to all international development banks involved in the Rogun project. On October 23, an open letter signed by 124 public organizations, including Rivers Without Borders, highlighting the risks of financing large dam projects, including Rogun, will be presented to the World Bank management. According to the source, urgent international public consultations on the environmental and social impact of the construction of the Rogun HPP on the basin countries are planned for October 28 of this year.