National Committee on Ecology and Climate Change of the Republic of Uzbekistan

The Kazakh delegation included K. B. Masenov, Managing Director and Head of the Bureau of Best Available Techniques at the National Joint Stock Company “International Green Technologies and Investment Projects Centre” and Abilaikhan Talgatov, Head of the Department for Monitoring, Analysis and Integrated Environmental Permits.

Particular attention during the meeting was given to Kazakhstan’s practical experience in transitioning industry towards the use of Best Available Techniques. Kazakh experts shared their experience in conducting comprehensive technological audits at industrial enterprises, as well as their approaches to collecting and analysing sector-specific data and developing and applying BAT reference documents.

The participants also discussed practical approaches to establishing technological and environmental performance indicators for different industrial sectors and using them to support the modernisation of enterprises and reduce their environmental impact.

The Uzbek side presented ongoing efforts to improve the environmental impact assessment and state environmental expertise systems, as well as to establish national mechanisms for the implementation of Best Available Techniques.

The meeting also focused on a joint project to develop a digital platform for Best Available Techniques. The sides discussed a potential implementation framework, including the development of a unified database of technological data, the digitalisation of BAT reference documents and tools for comparing technologies used by industrial enterprises. The platform is expected to help consolidate data on technological processes and environmental performance, improve the quality of decision-making, and provide a digital foundation for the wider application of Best Available Techniques across industry.

The working programme continued at Green University, where specialists and industry experts exchanged views. Participants noted that the implementation of Best Available Techniques should be viewed not only as a tool for environmental regulation, but also as a means of modernising industry, improving resource and energy efficiency, reducing emissions and wastewater discharges and minimising waste generation.

The exchange of experience with Kazakhstan will enable Uzbekistan to draw on solutions that have already been tested in practice when developing its national Best Available Techniques system. It will also support the transition towards a more technology-driven and preventive approach to environmental regulation.