Our People > Sadokat Jalolova

Sadokat Jalolova

Journalist

Jalolova has worked as a reporter for some time in local newspapers and websites in Uzbekistan, and has enriched her knowledge in the field of journalism through courses at the University of Michigan, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Amsterdam on the Coursera platform.

Articles

Nuclear Power Plant

Uzbekistan Nuclear Power Plant Targets More Local Production in $9.5 Billion Project

Construction is underway on Uzbekistan’s first nuclear power plant, a $9.5 billion project in the Jizzakh Region. The government wants Uzbek companies to take on a larger share of construction and equipment production, while work is also beginning on infrastructure and a new town alongside the plant. The project entered the construction phase on June 4. Excavation for the reactor building has now been completed, with more than 1 million cubic meters of soil removed. Uzbek-made products are currently expected to account for 21% of the project, or about $1.9 billion. Authorities want to raise that share to at least 30%, while local companies are expected to carry out 65% of construction and installation work. The government says up to 7,000 Uzbek workers and specialists could be involved at different stages of construction. For now, however, the project remains reliant on foreign expertise: the general contractor is Atomstroyexport, the engineering division of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom. As part of the push to increase local participation, authorities plan to create a 200-hectare industrial zone in the Forish District. It could host at least 100 joint ventures, with local production established in 15 areas, including through the transfer of foreign technology. The government is also preparing tax and customs incentives intended to encourage local production. The Jizzakh project has expanded significantly since it was first agreed. The original deal with Rosatom envisaged a small nuclear power plant consisting of six RITM-200N reactors. The concept was later revised: the integrated complex is now planned to combine two large VVER-1000 units with two RITM-200N small modular reactors. The plant will also require extensive supporting infrastructure, including new power lines, 120 kilometers of water pipelines, 40 kilometers of roads, and 11 kilometers of railway. Authorities want locally produced goods and services to account for 60%-70% of this infrastructure work. A separate town for plant employees and their families is planned next to the site. Around 10,000 homes and apartments for nearly 33,000 people are expected to be built on 200 hectares. Uzbekistan is also developing the technical and regulatory capacity needed to oversee a project of this scale. The government is considering a joint venture with foreign engineering companies to provide independent technical assessments during construction. In June, a mission from the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visited Uzbekistan to review the country’s progress in developing the national infrastructure needed for a nuclear power program. The reliance on foreign expertise has also prompted efforts to train a domestic nuclear workforce. Since 2023, 216 students have graduated from the Tashkent branch of Russia’s National Research Nuclear University MEPhI. Of these, 83 are continuing their master’s or postgraduate studies at institutions abroad. Around 100 more future nuclear industry specialists are studying at four higher education institutions in Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan’s nuclear plans are developing as electricity consumption grows rapidly. The country is simultaneously building solar and wind power plants, developing hydropower, and seeking to reduce the amount of natural gas burned to generate electricity. The nuclear plant is...

4 weeks ago

Uzbekistan migration

Uzbekistan Labor Migration Looks to New Markets in Europe and Asia

Uzbekistan is looking for new destinations for labor migration at a time when aging populations are creating worker shortages from Germany to Japan. For a country whose migration model has for decades been closely tied primarily to Russia, labor shortages in developed economies offer an opportunity to diversify, but they also require workers to meet significantly higher standards. The Central Bank of Uzbekistan has analyzed the outlook for the global labor market through 2030. It expects demand for foreign workers to grow across sectors ranging from healthcare and construction to logistics and information technology. Europe is one of the largest potential markets. Aging populations and a shrinking working-age population are expected to intensify existing labor shortages. These shortages are expected to be particularly pronounced in engineering, construction, healthcare, and technology. Germany faces one of the most serious demographic challenges. The country’s Institute for Employment Research estimates that annual net immigration of around 400,000 people would be needed to keep its labor force potential broadly stable. Demand is expected to grow particularly rapidly in healthcare and elderly care. Germany already had nearly 5.7 million people officially classified as requiring care in 2023. In England, Skills England estimates that around 90,000 additional care workers and home carers could be needed between 2025 and 2030. Another growing labor market is linked to the energy transition. The construction and maintenance of solar and wind power facilities is increasing demand for installers, mechanics, engineers, and technical personnel. Major labor shortages are also expected in East Asia. Japan could face an overall shortage of around 6.4 million workers by 2030, according to a widely cited projection by Persol Research and Consulting. South Korea is also facing labor shortages in shipbuilding and other industrial sectors. Another potential destination is the Gulf. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are investing heavily in construction, tourism, transport, healthcare, and services as they diversify their economies. One 2025 forecast estimated that the UAE alone could add more than 1 million jobs by 2030. For Uzbekistan, these changes coincide with a gradual expansion in the geography of its own labor migration. Russia remains the main foreign labor market for Uzbek citizens, but tighter Russian migration rules and rising costs for workers are increasing interest in other destinations. In the first half of 2026, work-purpose entries into Russia by citizens of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan fell by 15% compared with the same period a year earlier. Uzbekistan already organizes employment opportunities for its citizens in South Korea, the United Kingdom, Germany, and other countries. In its labor market review for the first quarter of 2026, the Central Bank specifically noted the continuing diversification of migration and an increase in the number of Uzbek citizens in Turkey and South Korea. The shift is also visible in remittances. Uzbekistan received $9.3 billion in cross-border transfers in the first half of 2026, up 13% from a year earlier. Transfers from the United Kingdom increased by 62%, those from European Union countries by 27%, and those...

4 weeks ago

Illegal migration

Uzbekistan Proposes Up to 15 Years in Prison for Organizing Illegal Migration

Uzbekistan wants to introduce a separate criminal offense for organizers of illegal migration, carrying penalties of up to 15 years in prison. The proposal comes at a time when large numbers of Uzbeks continue to work abroad, with Russia still the largest destination, even as conditions for migrant workers there become increasingly restrictive and risky. The draft amendments are open for public discussion until September 8. They would create a new criminal offense for organizing or assisting illegal migration for financial gain, including arranging unlawful border crossings or transit through Uzbekistan. Penalties would start at three to five years in prison or restricted liberty and could rise to 10–15 years in the most serious cases, including those involving large sums of money or danger to people’s lives or health. Article 223 of the Criminal Code already criminalizes unlawful border crossings, entry, and departure, but there is no separate article targeting those who organize or facilitate illegal migration for profit. The issue is particularly sensitive for Uzbekistan because of the scale of labor migration. Russia remains the main foreign labor market for Uzbek citizens. According to the latest Uzbek data, around 1.4 million citizens are working abroad, including about 834,200 in Russia. Conditions for migrants in Russia, meanwhile, are becoming more restrictive. Checks on migrants have intensified, while Russian federal and regional authorities have tightened restrictions on foreign workers in a number of sectors. Tashkent has also warned of citizens being recruited into armed conflicts and foreign military service. Such cases are already reaching Uzbek courts. In February 2026, a court sentenced a 38-year-old Uzbek citizen to three years and one month in prison for participating in the war in Ukraine on Russia’s side. The man told the court that after being detained for violating migration rules, he was offered a military contract under threat of deportation. He was found guilty of mercenary activity and entering military or similar service for a foreign state. Tashkent has repeatedly warned its citizens that service in foreign militaries can result in criminal prosecution. At the same time, Uzbek authorities are increasingly having to intervene following migration raids and disputes involving Russian law enforcement agencies. After a raid on a cafe in Khabarovsk in December 2025, where Central Asian migrants were reportedly injured, Uzbekistan sent Russia a diplomatic note requesting an investigation. Remittances remain an important source of income for Uzbek families. In the first half of 2026, Uzbekistan received $9.3 billion in cross-border remittances, up 13% from a year earlier. Tashkent therefore has to balance preserving access to its citizens’ largest foreign labor market, protecting their rights, and combating illegal intermediaries.

4 weeks ago

Logistics Dry port

DP World to Begin Construction of $288 Million Tashkent Dry Port

DP World, one of the world’s largest port and logistics operators, plans to begin construction of a multimodal terminal in Tashkent worth more than $288 million in October 2026. The dry port will bring rail and road freight, warehousing, and customs infrastructure together at a single site and is intended to reduce cargo-handling costs in the landlocked country. The construction timetable was announced at an August 25 ceremony by Tashkent Mayor Shavkat Umurzakov. Dubai-based DP World and Tashkent Invest signed an agreement on the project in October 2025. DP World holds an 85% stake in the joint venture, while the remaining 15% belongs to Tashkent Invest, an investment company owned by the city administration. The terminal will occupy about 82 hectares in the Yangi Avlod Special Industrial Zone in southern Tashkent. It will include a rail-connected dry port, customs and warehouse facilities, vehicle storage areas, and its own freight railway station, with access to the national rail network, major highways, and Tashkent International Airport. The first of three construction phases will include a rail terminal with an annual capacity of 150,000 TEUs and 63,000 square meters of warehousing. A TEU is the standard unit used in container shipping and is equivalent to one 20-foot container. Another 163,000 square meters of warehouse space is planned in subsequent phases, depending on demand. Improving Uzbekistan's Logistics Uzbekistan is one of just two double-landlocked countries in the world, alongside Liechtenstein. Long distances, multiple borders, and the need to transfer cargo from one form of transport to another increase the cost of foreign trade. In the World Bank’s latest global Logistics Performance Index, Uzbekistan ranked 88th among 139 economies, up from 129th in 2014. Pressure on the transport system is increasing along with the economy and trade. According to the World Bank, transport accounts for nearly 8% of Uzbekistan’s GDP and around 1 million jobs. The Bank estimates that road capacity will need to increase by around 500% by 2030 to accommodate projected growth in freight volumes. In March 2026, the World Bank approved $200 million to modernize transport infrastructure and support sector reforms. Uzbekistan is also expanding its external freight routes. The China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway is under construction, while to the west the country is seeking more freight capacity through Kazakhstan’s Caspian ports, which connect it to the Middle Corridor toward the South Caucasus, Turkey, and Europe. Uzbek freight handled through the ports of Aktau and Kuryk increased by more than 60% in 2025. To the south, a new cargo terminal opened on the Hairatan-Mazar-i-Sharif railway in Afghanistan in May, while the proposed Trans-Afghan railway remains at the feasibility-study stage and is intended eventually to provide access to Pakistani seaports. The DP World terminal would give Tashkent a major inland hub for freight moving along these routes. The company says the facility is intended to connect Central Asia with its network in the Middle East and Europe and reduce logistics costs. Its impact will still depend on how efficiently cargo can move across Uzbekistan’s borders...

4 weeks ago

Uzbekistan's economy

Mirziyoyev Sets Goal of Doubling Uzbekistan GDP by 2030

Uzbekistan plans to increase its GDP to $300 billion by 2030 – nearly double the level expected in 2026. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced the new target ahead of the country’s 35th anniversary of independence. For a country with a population of about 39 million, growth on this scale will require further investment inflows and the creation of millions of better-paying jobs. In his anniversary address, Mirziyoyev unveiled seven national development programs for the coming decade. In the economic program he set targets for investment, productivity, technology, and employment. Uzbekistan is already on a strong economic trajectory. According to the World Bank, nominal GDP stood at about $72 billion in 2017, when the current wave of reforms was getting underway. By 2025, it had reached approximately $147 billion. Growth has remained strong since then. The economy expanded by 7.7% in 2025, accelerating to 8.7% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026. The IMF projects growth of 6.8% for this year and 6% in 2027. Just three years ago, the authorities were targeting GDP of $160 billion by 2030. Now, Mirziyoyev said the country would surpass that level as early as this year. The new target is $300 billion by the end of the decade, while GDP per capita is expected to exceed $10,000 within the next ten years. The government also aims to create 2 million high-income jobs in industry by 2030. Rising Foreign Investment Government figures also point to a sharp rise in investment. According to the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade, Uzbekistan recorded $43.1 billion in utilized foreign investment in 2025, up 24% from the previous year. The ministry classified $38.2 billion of that amount as foreign direct investment, with another $4.9 billion coming from international financial institutions. The government aims to increase foreign investment to $53 billion in 2026. The government’s figures measure foreign investment put to use in projects during the year, which is broader than the standard measure of FDI used in international statistics. Mirziyoyev has also set a target of attracting $450 billion in foreign investment over the next decade. The government has not specified whether that target will be measured using the same methodology as its annual investment figures. Challenges to Sustaining Growth The IMF regards further private-sector development, stronger competition, and reform of state-owned enterprises and banks as important conditions for raising productivity. After nearly a decade of economic liberalization, sustaining rapid growth will increasingly depend on productivity gains and more efficient private investment rather than the initial effects of reform. Demographics are adding pressure to the labor market. Uzbekistan’s population is approaching 39 million and remains the largest in Central Asia. The IMF estimates GDP per capita at about $4,528 in 2026. Over the past decade, the country’s population has grown by around 8 million. The government sees the technology sector as one source of more productive employment. Mirziyoyev has set a goal of involving 10 million young people in information technology, artificial intelligence, the creative economy, and other emerging professions....

4 weeks ago

Transplantation

Uzbekistan Performs First Simultaneous Liver-Kidney Transplant

Uzbekistan has performed its first simultaneous liver and kidney transplant on a single patient. The operation was carried out at the National Medical Center, the Zamon news program reported. The procedure marks a further expansion of transplant medicine in Uzbekistan, where hospitals have introduced increasingly complex liver and kidney procedures in recent years. The patient, a woman from Pakhtachi district in Samarkand region, had suffered from liver disease for eight years. After contracting hepatitis C, she developed cirrhosis and later kidney failure. For the past four years, she had regularly undergone hemodialysis, a procedure that filters the blood and partially replaces kidney function. She had previously been advised to seek transplantation abroad, including in India, but the procedure did not go ahead because no suitable donor was found and her family could not cover the cost. Uzbek doctors concluded that transplanting only one of the organs would not be sufficient and decided to perform both procedures during a single operation. Simultaneous liver-kidney transplantation is used in patients with severe disease affecting both organs and is significantly more complex than a single-organ transplant. Doctors must not only perform two transplants during the same operation but also closely monitor the function of both organs afterward. Transplant medicine in Uzbekistan has advanced markedly in recent years. The country now performs both liver and kidney transplants, including procedures that until recently would often have required treatment abroad. In April 2026, doctors at the Republican Specialized Scientific and Practical Medical Center for Nephrology and Kidney Transplantation carried out a kidney transplant between a donor and recipient with incompatible blood groups. Before the operation, antibodies that could cause rejection were removed from the recipient’s blood. Pediatric transplantation is also developing. In December 2025, Uzbekistan performed its first liver transplant on a seven-month-old infant at the National Children’s Medical Center. The child’s mother was the donor. Access to post-transplant treatment has also expanded. Transplant recipients under medical follow-up in Uzbekistan are entitled to free immunosuppressive medicines needed to prevent rejection of the transplanted organ. Regulations also set out procedures for preparing living donors and recipients for surgery, as well as rehabilitation and subsequent medical monitoring. The latest operation adds another highly complex transplant option to those now available domestically. For patients with simultaneous severe liver and kidney disease, treatment abroad is no longer the only option. Hepatitis C, which led to cirrhosis in this patient, can remain without noticeable symptoms for years. Chronic infection can cause cirrhosis and liver cancer. According to the World Health Organization, modern direct-acting antiviral medicines can cure more than 95% of people with hepatitis C.

1 month ago

Renewable energy

Acwa and KOWEPO Explore Renewable Energy Projects in Uzbekistan

South Korea’s KOWEPO, which is wholly owned by state-controlled Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), is moving into Uzbekistan’s rapidly expanding green energy market alongside Saudi Arabia’s Acwa, one of the market’s largest players. No specific projects have been announced yet, but the companies will explore opportunities in renewable generation and energy storage while considering the possibility of attracting South Korean financing. The memorandum was signed in Tashkent on August 25. For KOWEPO, the agreement offers an opportunity to bring to Central Asia the experience it has gained through projects in the Middle East totaling 3.5 GW of renewable capacity and 877 MW of gas-fired generation. For Acwa, Uzbekistan has already become its second-largest market after Saudi Arabia. The company has operated there since 2019 and is developing 19 projects with a combined capacity of more than 10 GW and potential investment estimated at $15 billion. Abid Malik, Acwa’s president for Central Asia, said the companies would also seek to “facilitate engagement with Korean financial institutions” as they assess potential projects. Acwa’s portfolio in Uzbekistan includes solar and wind power, conventional generation, green hydrogen, and energy storage. Storage is becoming increasingly important as the share of solar and wind grows because utility-scale batteries can store surplus electricity and return it to the grid when renewable generation falls. Uzbekistan aims to expand renewable energy capacity to around 25 GW by 2030, with renewables targeted to account for 54% of electricity generation. The rapid construction of solar and wind farms comes as electricity demand rises and Uzbekistan seeks to modernize a power system that has historically relied heavily on gas-fired generation. Acwa has already secured contractual priority to develop up to 2 GWh of new battery energy storage capacity in the country. KOWEPO could therefore provide additional expertise and capital. Uzbekistan’s energy transition has already attracted major investors from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, China, and elsewhere. For now, the agreement with KOWEPO remains a framework arrangement, with the capacity, cost, locations, and timelines of any joint projects yet to be announced. Its practical significance will become clearer if the companies move from exploring opportunities to concrete investment decisions.

1 month ago

Archaeology

Possible 2,200-Year-Old Greek Military Camp Found in Uzbekistan

Archaeologists in southern Uzbekistan may have identified an exceptionally rare Hellenistic military camp at a site previously thought to be a small rural settlement. Dating back around 2,200 years, Iskandar Tepa may have functioned as a temporary base for Greco-Bactrian troops and could be the first such camp identified in Central Asia. Alexander the Great conquered Bactria and Sogdiana in the late fourth century B.C., bringing Greek armies deep into Central Asia. After his empire fragmented, Greek-ruled states continued to control parts of the region for centuries. Iskandar Tepa is located in the Sherabad District of Surkhandarya Region, within the ancient borderlands between Bactria and Sogdiana. A Czech-Uzbek archaeological expedition identified the site in 2017. At first, it was interpreted as a Greco-Bactrian settlement, with later research suggesting it may have been a watch post. The mound had no known local name when archaeologists discovered it, so they gave it the working name Iskandar Tepa. Iskandar is the local form of Alexander, making the name equivalent to “Alexander’s Hill.” The latest research suggests the site had a different function altogether. Geophysical surveys and excavations indicate that Iskandar Tepa was probably occupied only briefly, perhaps as a temporary military camp. The findings were published in June 2026 in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. The authors place the site in the Hellenistic period, while Archaeology Magazine dates the proposed military camp to the second century B.C. Iskandar Tepa’s layout supports the military interpretation. The site occupies a naturally protected hilltop. A perimeter ditch about 400 meters long enclosed an area of roughly 1.2 hectares and measured between 4 and 7 meters wide. However, researchers found little evidence of permanent buildings inside the enclosure. That combination is more consistent with a temporary fortified camp than with a permanent settlement. Coins associated with Hellenistic rulers help date the site. Considered alongside the site’s layout and other finds, the coins also support the interpretation that a military unit may once have occupied it. Supplying water to the people stationed there would have been a separate challenge. Archaeologists found large ceramic storage vessels, known as khums, buried in the ground. They also identified what appears to have been a canal, up to 1.1 meters wide, that carried water from several kilometers away. Researchers suggest that the vessels may have been used to store water for a temporary garrison. Geophysical surveys also revealed around 90 elongated pits. Many are interpreted as graves in a burial ground that developed after the main period of occupation at Iskandar Tepa or partly overlapped with it. Temporary military camps from the Hellenistic period are extremely difficult to identify archaeologically because, unlike cities and fortresses, they left relatively few permanent structures. Iskandar Tepa could therefore reveal another side of the Hellenistic presence in Central Asia by showing how relatively small military units stationed far from major urban centers secured water and monitored the surrounding territory. Southern Uzbekistan has also yielded evidence from a much earlier period. In 2025, researchers reported that...

1 month ago

TCA Interviews JICA

JICA’s Sota Tosaka on Afghanistan’s Economic Ties With Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan is deepening trade and transport ties with Afghanistan despite continuing political and humanitarian concerns, drawing its southern neighbor closer to Central Asian markets. In an interview with The Times of Central Asia, Sota Tosaka, chief representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for Afghanistan, described that engagement as part of a practical regional approach. Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries, he said, are seeking areas where economic cooperation can continue. Tosaka, who previously worked at JICA headquarters overseeing Central Asia and the Caucasus, has also visited Uzbekistan several times, including Termez. He said his current position gives him a different perspective on the relationship between Afghanistan and its northern neighbors. “I previously visited Termez in 2019 when I was overseeing the Central Asia and Caucasus region at JICA headquarters,” Tosaka told The Times of Central Asia. “At that time, the free trade zone aimed at facilitating business with Afghanistan did not exist yet. Returning to Termez recently, I was genuinely surprised to see how much progress has been made and how actively various cross-border initiatives are now being explored and implemented through Termez to connect Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.” Since taking charge of JICA’s Afghanistan operations, his work has focused on supporting Afghan people through international organizations. Tosaka noted that JICA’s primary focus remains on addressing the immediate needs of the Afghan population. To ensure that assistance directly reaches local communities and vulnerable groups, the agency coordinates its support through United Nations agencies and international partners. “Our priority is to deliver tangible support directly to the people of Afghanistan,” he said. “Working alongside UN partners allows us to effectively implement humanitarian activities that address daily challenges on the ground.” “Although the geopolitical environment surrounding Afghanistan has shifted significantly, Central Asian nations are actively pursuing opportunities to expand economic ties from their respective strategic viewpoints,” Tosaka continued. “Recognizing the importance of regional stability, countries like Uzbekistan are taking pragmatic steps to foster trade and commercial cooperation that serve mutual interests.” In particular, Uzbekistan’s proactive approach to encouraging business initiatives reflects a broader regional trend aimed at maintaining essential economic linkages. For Uzbekistan, the economic relationship has already become significant. Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Khodjaev said in February that bilateral trade between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan has increased 2.5 times over the past five years, from $653 million in 2021 to $1.7 billion in 2025. The two countries have set a goal of raising annual trade to $5 billion. Tosaka noted that this economic orientation may become increasingly crucial given the diplomatic and logistical constraints Afghanistan faces on its eastern and western borders. “Complex relations with Pakistan and the geopolitical situation involving Iran present significant challenges for Afghanistan,” he explained. “Consequently, deepening economic ties with its northern neighbors becomes a vital strategic alternative. In this context, Central Asian nations serve as indispensable partners, creating mutually beneficial opportunities for sustainable regional development.” In parallel with these macro-economic trends, JICA is dedicated to strengthening grassroots economic resilience by empowering Afghan entrepreneurs, particularly women, in...

1 month ago

Aral Sea

Aral Sea Restoration Could Prevent 605 Million Tons of CO2 Emissions

The drying of the Aral Sea has created another environmental problem: according to a study, exposed lakebed sediments released about 748 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere between 1960 and 2022. Organic carbon remains stored in the sediments, and restoring part of the water cover could prevent the release of another 605 million tons of CO2. This gives efforts to restore the Aral Sea region a new climate dimension. The study, conducted by an international team of researchers led by scientists from Spain’s Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), was published in Science on July 16. The findings add another consideration to restoration efforts already underway across the region, from refilling part of the sea in Kazakhstan to planting saxaul and rehabilitating degraded land in Uzbekistan. The Aral Sea’s Carbon Legacy When the Aral Sea was still a fully-fledged body of water, plants and algae absorbed carbon dioxide, while some organic matter settled on the lakebed. As the water retreated, those sediments were exposed to the air, organic matter began to decompose, and the stored carbon started returning to the atmosphere as CO2. At the same time, winds carry salt and dust from the newly formed Aralkum Desert, spreading the consequences of the sea’s disappearance far beyond its former shoreline. In 2022, researchers conducted an expedition to the dried Aral Sea bed, collecting sediment samples and measuring how much CO2 was being released. Combined with satellite data, this allowed them to estimate carbon losses as the sea retreated. According to the researchers’ calculations, exposed sediments lost about 204 million tons of carbon between 1960 and 2022, equivalent to roughly 748 million tons of CO2. New vegetation growing on the dried lakebed has offset less than 1% of those emissions. A significant amount of organic carbon remains in the sediments. The researchers estimate that restoring water cover could prevent the release of another 605 million tons of CO2. The authors also considered the economics of such an effort. Using 2024 voluntary carbon market prices for land-use and forestry projects as a benchmark, they estimate that the avoided emissions could potentially be worth $3.6 billion to $18 billion in carbon credits. That money could theoretically become one source of funding for ecosystem restoration. Researchers estimate that about $9.7 billion in water-management improvements could increase inflows enough to restore roughly half of the area covered by the Aral Sea in 1960, while potentially generating about 323 million tons of CO2-equivalent carbon credits. Restoring the Entire Aral Sea Is No Longer the Goal Under current conditions, fully restoring the sea is widely considered unrealistic. The central issue is water. The Amu Darya and Syr Darya flow through several Central Asian countries. Significantly increasing the amount of water reaching the Aral Sea would be impossible without basin-wide agreements, irrigation modernization, and reductions in water losses. This is why restoration of the Aral Sea remains a regional issue rather than solely an Uzbek or Kazakh one. Central Asian countries coordinate part of this work...

1 month ago

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