The second CLIENT II Regional Stakeholder Conference for Central Asia was held from 18 to 19 October as part of the Uzbek Inno-Week 2022 “Green Innovations for Sustainable Development”. The network conference was organized by CASIB with the support of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Ministry of Innovative Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the project management agency DLR and the AHK Central Asia and was dedicated to regional climate projects in Central Asia. The event was attended by over 100 participants from the CLIENT II partner countries of Central Asia as well as Mongolia, Japan, Israel and Germany.
On the first day of the conference, the focus was on regional projects on climate protection. After the welcoming of the conference participants by the Vice Minister for Innovative Development of Uzbekistan Dr. Shahlo Turdikulova, the German Ambassador to Uzbekistan Dr. Tilo Klinner and the representative of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research Prof. h. c. Karsten Heinz, the first thematic session focused on the political and financial framework conditions for climate protection projects in Central Asia.
Among the participants were the chairman of Qazaq Green Nurlan Kapenov, one of the most important renewable energy platforms in Central Asia, CEO of AIFC Green Finance Centre Ltd., Aidar Kazybaev, and President of the Renewable Industries Association of Mongolia Mr. Osgonbaatar. This was followed by the presentation of various projects such as the CLIENT II project OekoFlussPlan and its newly built Real Labs for the demonstration of sustainable energy solutions in rural Kyrgyzstan. The first day of the conference was concluded with a panel discussion in which selected representatives of the first and second sessions exchanged views on project-relevant issues such as the regulatory framework or concrete implementation measures.
The second day of the conference was aimed at climate adaptation measures in Central Asia. Dr. Caroline Milow, among others, commented on the project-effective framework conditions in order to outline the funding opportunities within the framework of the Green Central Asia Initiative. In addition, Akmal Ungalov spoke as a representative of the Ministry of Innovative Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The Ministry shows great interest in international cooperation within the framework of application-oriented research projects and their implementation. For this purpose, the IICAS Innovation Center in Nukus (Uzbekistan) was founded, among other things. The following project session was followed by the presentation of numerous application-oriented projects in the field of climate adaptation such as the CLIENT II projects KendyrTEX, KASHEMP, KlimALEZ, ReKKS and TERESA, various measures of the GCA initiative and the SATREPS funding program (Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development). The second day of the conference also ended with a panel discussion, where representatives from politics and project implementation exchanged views.
Summing up, it can be noted that there are efforts by the states of Central Asia to improve the framework conditions for international project measures addressed to climate change. The aim is to accelerate the expansion of renewable energies as an important climate protection measure and the implementation of resource-saving and water-saving approaches and technologies in land use for adaptation to climate change. The wide field of participants makes clear on the one hand the great interest in applied climate research in Central Asia and on the other hand the desire for networking opportunities and exchange formats.
[Photos: Ministry of Innovative Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan]
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