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Regional Ecological Summit

Mirziyoyev Calls for Central Asian Environmental Solidarity at Astana Summit

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev used the opening of the Regional Ecological Summit in Astana on April 22 to argue that Central Asia must treat climate and environmental pressure as a shared regional challenge rather than a set of national problems. The meeting comes as Kazakhstan tries to turn ecology into a broader platform for regional coordination, investment, and policy action, Addressing fellow leaders and delegates, Mirziyoyev backed the summit’s theme, “Shared Vision for a Sustainable Future,” and said the meeting built on the regional dialogue launched at last year’s Samarkand Climate Forum. He said environmental diplomacy in Central Asia was becoming more systematic and consistent at a time when warming in the region was moving at twice the global rate. Mirziyoyev pointed to the loss of nearly one-third of Central Asia’s glaciers, unstable rainfall, growing water shortages, and land degradation affecting 80 million hectares. His remarks landed as water security has become one of the most urgent regional concerns ahead of the 2026 growing season, as recently reported by The Times of Central Asia. He also criticized what he described as weakening global environmental solidarity and called for fairer access for developing countries to climate finance, advanced technologies, and innovation. While welcoming regional efforts to put environmental protection at the center of cooperation, Mirziyoyev stated that, “Countries that have contributed least to global climate change are once again being left alone to deal with its consequences.” Mirziyoyev also highlighted Uzbekistan’s domestic record, including tree planting under the Yashil Makon program and afforestation on the dried bed of the Aral Sea. He also proposed new regional initiatives, including a Clean Air consortium, a Green Trade Corridor, a shared climate investment portfolio, and a Central Asian Red Book for biodiversity protection.

Regional Ecological Summit

Astana Is Turning Ecology into Regional Statecraft

On April 22–24, Astana will host the Regional Ecological Summit with the participation of numerous United Nations agencies and international partners. It is expected to produce a joint declaration and a Regional Program of Action for 2026–2030, giving it a formal ambition beyond that of a standard diplomatic conference. Kazakhstan is presenting the event as a region-wide platform through which shared ecological pressures may become a more regular channel for Central Asian coordination. Officially, the summit is framed as a platform for regional solutions to climate and environmental challenges. It is also a more ambitious test of whether Kazakhstan can use ecology to sustain a more regular pattern of regional cooperation under multilateral auspices. Here, Astana is using ecology to include water, health, food systems, natural-resource management, pollution, resilience, and financing. The broader the issue area becomes, the more usable it is as a basis for cooperation among states whose interests diverge elsewhere. The summit grew out of the Regional Climate Summit that President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed at the Astana International Forum in June 2023. Since then, the agenda has widened from climate policy in the narrow sense to ecology more generally. This broadening fits the constraints the five Central Asian states share, which extend beyond emissions or adaptation metrics. They include water stress, land degradation, cross-border environmental risks, public-health effects, and the need for outside financing and technical coordination. A climate-only frame would have been too narrow for those overlapping pressures. The broader ecological frame is therefore more politically useful. The meeting also has a prehistory in earlier regional backing and multilateral development. A key point came on July 21, 2022, at the Fourth Consultative Meeting of Central Asian heads of state in Cholpon Ata, where the Green Agenda Regional Program for Central Asia was adopted. At the same meeting, a joint statement, a roadmap for regional cooperation for 2022–2024, and a concept for Central Asian interaction in multilateral formats were also adopted. The Green Agenda itself was linked to decarbonization, alternative energy, mutual electricity supply, water-saving and environmentally friendly technologies, and the rational use of water resources. Later UNDP material tied that program more explicitly to regional cooperation on climate action, water and energy management, and the use of United Nations platforms for advancing shared initiatives. The Astana summit builds on that earlier momentum. The scale of the UN presence indicates that the summit is meant as more than a ceremonial gathering. UN Kazakhstan says that 18 UN agencies are co-organizing 27 sessions and five workshops. For a regional meeting of this kind, that is a dense working structure. The same UN summary says that one expected outcome is a Joint Declaration by the Heads of State of Central Asia on regional environmental cooperation, followed by a Program of Action for 2026–2030 developed in partnership with the United Nations. Kazakhstan’s own framing presents the summit as a permanent platform for dialogue among governments, international organizations, scientific institutions, business, and civil society. The event is thus situated at the...

Regional Ecological Summit

Regional Ecological Summit to Open in Astana Amid Pressure on Water, Trade, and Regional Cooperation

When the Regional Ecological Summit (RES 2026) opens in Astana this Wednesday, the official framing will center on Shared Vision for a Resilient Future, combining practical regional solutions with diplomatic ambitions that include a Joint Declaration and a 2026-2030 Program of Action. Behind that language sits a harder reality. Water and energy officials in Tashkent, Bishkek, and Astana are dealing with a region which is drying out faster than its infrastructure and politics are adapting. That gives the summit a sharper edge than earlier environmental gatherings. Two issues stand out: the management of winter water-sharing arrangements ahead of the irrigation season, and the way the shrinking Caspian could constrain the Middle Corridor. The Toktogul Equation: A Fragile "Winter-for-Summer" Swap The most immediate point of pressure is the Toktogul Reservoir in Kyrgyzstan. In late 2025, an agreement was reached under which Kyrgyzstan would limit winter hydropower generation, preserving water for downstream Kazakh and Uzbek farmers, in exchange for electricity supplies from its neighbors. The arrangement remains in place, but its durability will be tested as summer demand rises. One question hanging over the summit is whether Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan will provide enough power support to help Kyrgyzstan conserve water without reopening old upstream-downstream tensions. For downstream states, that is not only a water issue but an agricultural and political one. The Caspian Emergency: Depth as a Trade Barrier For years, the shallowing of the Caspian was treated as a long-term problem. In 2026, it is becoming an operational one. According to recent reporting, Aktau port is operating at an average depth of 4.5 meters, far below the 6.5 to 7 meters needed for full operations. The summit will also highlight the Integrated Management of Seascapes project. The UNDP-linked initiative is intended to balance the need for dredging and port access with protection of the northern Caspian’s fragile ecosystem. That tension is no longer theoretical. It now touches trade, shipping capacity, and the future of the corridor itself. The Digital Transition One of the summit’s more concrete strands is the National Water Resources Information System. According to the Kazakh government, the system is to enter industrial operation by the end of 2026. The plan is to automate 103 irrigation canals in southern Kazakhstan using $1.15 billion in financing from the Islamic Development Bank. The broader regional test is whether neighboring states will share enough data to support a cross-border water monitoring system, giving officials a clearer view of how shared resources are being managed. The Green Energy Corridor Alongside the water agenda, the Green Energy Corridor remains one of the projects that clearly aligns Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan. The plan is to transmit green electricity to Europe via a subsea cable across the Caspian. CESI is finalizing the feasibility study, pointing to an export model that leans less on hydrocarbons and more on regional infrastructure. It also shows how environmental pressure and economic strategy are starting to overlap. For Central Asian governments, climate policy is no longer only about adaptation. It is...

Regional Ecological Summit

Kazakhstan’s Regional Ecological Summit 2026: What It Is and Why It Matters

Kazakhstan’s Regional Ecological Summit 2026 in Astana on April 22-24 is aiming to turn Central Asia’s environmental strain into a regional political agenda. Organized in partnership with the United Nations, the summit is built around the theme, “Shared Vision for a Resilient Future.” Its stated purpose is to bring together governments, international organizations, lenders, businesses, researchers, and civil society to push for joint and practical responses to climate and ecological pressures across the region. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev first proposed hosting a regional climate summit in Kazakhstan under UN auspices during his 2023 speech at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly. By 2026, that idea had broadened into a wider environmental summit covering climate transition, adaptation, food security, natural resource management, air pollution, waste, finance, and environmental skills. The official key thematic directions show that this is no longer a narrowly framed climate conference. It is being presented as a broader Central Asian platform for ecological cooperation. In Central Asia, ecological stress now shapes core state concerns, from farming and energy to public health and cross-border cooperation. That gives the Astana summit a broader role than a standard environment conference. That shift reflects real regional pressures. Central Asia faces chronic water stress, glacier retreat, desertification, air pollution, and growing strain on ecosystems. The summit’s organizers say the meeting is meant to produce joint solutions rather than another round of abstract pledges. The UN in Kazakhstan says the summit is expected to advance shared regional responses and identify green financing needs, while a second UN page states that one planned outcome is a Joint Declaration by the heads of state of Central Asia, alongside a 2026-2030 Programme of Action developed with the United Nations. Tokayev’s own language explains the summit’s pitch. On August 5, 2025, speaking at the Third United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries in Awaza, Turkmenistan, he said, “Many developing countries without access to the sea are facing water scarcity, glacier melt, desertification, and other extreme weather events. Addressing these challenges requires coordinated regional efforts and strong international support. At the same time, I believe that measures to combat climate change must remain balanced and inclusive, and respond to the legitimate development needs of countries. To strengthen our joint efforts in addressing climate change, I invite you to the Regional Ecological Summit, which will be held in Astana in partnership with the United Nations.” The wording shows how Kazakhstan wants to frame the event. Central Asia’s environmental problems cross borders, but the response, in Tokayev’s view, must also accommodate growth, infrastructure, and development. That is why the summit is being presented not just as a climate gathering, but as a forum linking ecological policy, investment, technology, and state planning. The EXPO component is part of that design. Government and investment-promotion pages say the parallel exhibition will focus on green technologies, ESG tools, and practical climate solutions, linking diplomacy to project finance and implementation. The summit’s speaker list underlines its international reach. The official RES 2026 page includes...

Energy

Kyrgyzstan Turns to Coal Power Amid Electricity Shortages

Kyrgyzstan is turning to coal-fired electricity generation as a key strategy to address its chronic energy deficits, particularly acute during winter, when heating demand spikes and reliance on costly imports increases. While the country continues to expand hydropower capacity, the government is emphasizing the role of thermal power as a stable, year-round energy source. Unlike hydropower, which is vulnerable to fluctuating river flows worsened by climate change, coal-fired generation offers a more consistent electricity supply. On January 22, Energy Minister Taalaibek Ibrayev met with representatives of an international consortium that includes the German consulting group GPRC, along with NRP and KCG. The minister proposed the construction of thermal power plants at domestic coal sites. According to the Ministry of Energy, the consortium has expressed its intention to design, finance, and build three coal-fired power plants, each with a capacity of 350 MW for a total of 1,050 MW. The proposed facilities would utilize clean coal technologies aligned with international environmental standards. Before construction begins, specialists will assess coal quality and geological conditions at the proposed sites. Kyrgyzstan’s coal reserves are estimated at around 2 billion tons. In 2024, the country produced 4.396 million tons of coal, with nearly half mined in the Naryn region and the rest in Batken, Osh, and Jalal-Abad. The country’s largest coal deposit is Kara-Keche, a lignite mine in Naryn operated by the state-owned Kyrgyzkomur. In June 2025, Electric Stations OJSC, which generates about 86% of Kyrgyzstan’s electricity, announced a tender to build a 1,200 MW coal-fired power plant near Kara-Keche. The project was structured in two phases: the first involving two 300 MW units at a cost of $934.38 million, and the second, a 600 MW unit valued at $370.6 million. The proposed plant was expected to generate 7.8 billion kWh annually. However, the tender was declared invalid in September 2025 due to incomplete documentation from bidders. Despite the setback, the Ministry of Energy remains committed to attracting international investors, viewing coal-fired power as a transitional solution until long-term hydropower projects are fully operational. Kyrgyzstan exported 1.1 million tons of coal in 2024, valued at $52.7 million. Uzbekistan was the largest buyer, while exports to China surged to 118,200 tons, up from just 13,000 tons in 2023. As electricity demand rises and hydropower faces increasing climate-related constraints, officials see coal-based generation as a pragmatic measure to stabilize the national grid and bolster energy security during a critical transition period.