Abdukhakimov: Volume of regional grant projects in Central Asia for climate preservation reaches $84 million

The volume of regional grant projects in Central Asia (CA) aimed at combating climate change, preserving biodiversity, and promoting sustainable land use has reached $84 million, Aziz Abdukhakimov, the Minister of Ecology, Environment, and Climate Change of Uzbekistan, said at the International Climate Forum on Saturday, according to Report.

"It can be said that a flagship achievement was the allocation of $26 million by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) for the implementation of a regional program aimed at strengthening the connection between water and land resources in Central Asia (funding five projects)," he said.

The Minister of Ecology noted that for Central Asia, a breakthrough was the fact that the countries of the region changed their approach to addressing environmental issues.

"We changed the approach — earlier we considered land degradation and water use problems separately. And for the first time, we managed to use the so-called Nexus to combine these areas. This, I believe, was a very important achievement," Abdukhakimov said.

According to him, statements made at the "Central Asia – European Union" summit show a clear understanding that the leaders of Central Asia are ready to jointly address the region's pressing issues.