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

The event was attended by Deputy Minister of Ecology, Environmental Protection, and Climate Change Jusipbek Kazbekov, Head of the Regional Office of the Global Institute for Green Growth (GGGI) Aaron Russell, Partnerships Officer in the Resident Coordinator's Office at the United Nations Rusyan Jill Mamiit, Head of the Representative Office of the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) in Uzbekistan Joachim Fritz, Director of the UNWTO Department for Technical Cooperation and Silk Road Mr. Jaime Mayaki, Professor of the Faculty of Tourism at the University of Alanya (Turkey) Kemal Kantarji, Senior Researcher at the Miho Museum in Japan Sergey Laptev, and others.

During the session, the work done by the Ministry in the field of green growth and sustainable tourism, as well as fruitful international cooperation, was highlighted.

Deputy Minister of Ecology Jusipbek Kazbekov highlighted the systematic work carried out in the field of ecology and tourism in Uzbekistan in recent years and noted the following:

"In order to mitigate the effects of climate change and combat dust and sand storms, 646 million saplings of trees and shrubs have been planted within the framework of "Yashil Makon" national project over the past 3 years. 14 new protected natural territories have been created in the republic, and their total area has been increased to 6.3 million hectares. In percentage terms, their share in our country has increased from 4.6% to 14.08%.
"Green covers" have been created on an area of 1.9 million hectares of the dried-up bottom of the Aral Sea. The territories covered by forests in our country have increased from 7 percent in 2020 to 8.1 percent currently. In recent years, a number of protected natural areas of our country have been included in the prestigious international lists of UNESCO and the Ramsar Convention. On the basis of the "Hub and Spoke" principle, a scientific university aimed at finding solutions to fundamental environmental problems was created, unique for Central Asia – Central Asian University of Environmental and Climate Change Studies, "Green University", and the Samarkand campus of the International Academy of Tourism was created".

Foreign experts also presented their reports in this area. In particular, Aaron Russell focused on the strategic assessment of the environment and its importance for sustainable tourism.

For reference: a number of environmental development projects are being implemented in cooperation with GGGI. In particular, on August 27, the GGGI Country Partnership Program in Uzbekistan for 2024-2028 was presented. The document reflects the priority directions of Uzbekistan's development and corresponds to the GGGI regional Asian strategy until 2030. It focuses on achieving environmentally sustainable economic growth through the implementation of green development projects. In 2024-2028, GGGI will focus on supporting Uzbekistan in creating an enabling environment, including developing and updating an appropriate regulatory framework for green investments, as well as preparing projects to directly attract investments in climate-resilient agriculture, sustainable forests, and green buildings.

Joachim Fritz, Head of the GIZ Regional Office, spoke about policy dialogue and knowledge management on climate protection strategies.

For information: fruitful cooperation between the Ministry of Ecology and GIZ continues. In particular, agreements on the implementation of two projects have been signed  recently. The first agreement is dedicated to the implementation of the project "Political Dialogue and Knowledge Management on Climate Protection Strategies" (DIAPOL-CE), implemented from February 2024 to June 2025. It aims to support partner countries in developing long-term scenarios and strategies for the transition to a climate-friendly, sustainable, and environmentally sound economy.

Also Mr. Jaime Mayaki, Director of the UNWTO Department for Technical Cooperation and Silk Road, also said that Uzbekistan has enough conditions and opportunities for the development of sustainable tourism, especially since the country is located along the Great Silk Road.

In Uzbekistan, the project will support a climate risk analysis of the Sudochie Lake system to explore the potential negative impacts that climate change may cause on protected areas and wetlands.

 In turn, Kemal Kantarji (Turkey) made a presentation on "Climate change as the main threat to sustainable tourism in Uzbekistan". 

At the end of the event, questions and answers and discussions on the topic were held.