April 12, 2017, Astana hosted national consultations to determine the needs for climate knowledge, services and capacity within the implementation of the regional components of the Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Program for Aral Sea Basin (CAMP4ASB).
The meeting was attended by national partners: representatives of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Nur Otan Party, the Nazarbayev University, the Eurasian Water Center, the Climate Change Coordination Center, as well as representatives of international organizations such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the OSCE Programme Office in Astana and others.
The employees of government departments shared information on existing measures, plans for adaptation to climate change, energy saving and energy efficiency programmes. In particular, it is planned to create an international center for green technologies in the Republic of Kazakhstan, which is an important aspect for introducing the best green technologies not only in the country, but in the region.
During the discussion, representatives of various sectors of the Republic of Kazakhstan expressed their interest in regional initiatives in the field of adaptation to climate change, and also made a point of the needs to develop a methodology for assessing the vulnerability analysis of key sectors to climate risks, including water management and agriculture.
Kazakhstan has a state mandatory agricultural insurance system. It was pointed out that this system can be a good practice for other Central Asian countries as an adaptation measure to climate change. The participants also emphasized the need for regional workshops with experts from the Central Asian countries to exchange knowledge.