Bishkek – 26 October 2021 – Today at the seminar “Presentation of the Nationally Determined Contribution of the Kyrgyz Republic to the Commitments under the Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)" the Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Technical Control of the Kyrgyz Republic presented the national climate pledge, marking its renewed commitment to the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement where world leaders universally agreed to advance climate actions to limit temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius, while pursuing efforts to limit to a safer 1.5 degrees. 

The seminar was attended by Deputy Foreign Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic Azizbek Madmarov, Director of the Climate Finance Center Dastan Abdyldaev, British Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Charles Garrett and UNDP Resident Representative in Kyrgyzstan Louise Chamberlain. The main goal of this event was to present the country document to a wide audience, in particular, the diplomatic corps, international development partners, representatives of government bodies, as well as representatives of the civil, private and financial sectors, academia, youth and the media.

Under the agreement, countries promise to develop climate pledges - also known as ‘Nationally Determined Contributions’ or ’NDCs’ - which will help tackle global warming. The agreement also calls on countries to revise and strengthen their NDCs every five years. However, it is increasingly apparent that urgent steps must be taken to reverse current unsustainable trends, leading to high expectations for governments to commit to ambitious pledges that leave no-one behind.

On September 24, 2021, at the first meeting of the Coordinating Council on Climate Change, Environment and Green Economy Development, the updated NDC of the Kyrgyz Republic was approved. On October 9, the updated country document was registered at the UNFCCC website. The purpose of the NDC is to support sustainable and balanced development of the country, taking into account climate change, environmental and socio-economic problems. The updated NDC KR establishes a climate change strategy for 2030 and recognizes the importance of adopting a low-carbon development strategy and a National Adaptation Policy. According to the updated NDC, by 2030 Kyrgyzstan is committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15.97% of greenhouse gas emissions under the "Business as usual" scenario and by 43.62% with international support. As part of the NDC process in the Kyrgyz Republic, a series of national consultations were held with broad involvement of representatives of civil society, the private sector and academia.

At the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Mr. Sadyr Japarov made a statement: “At the same time, Kyrgyzstan will try to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The Kyrgyz economy is gradually "greening" with more and more carbon-free energy sources being put into operation, meaning, first of all, hydroelectric power plants. In order to ensure energy security, Kyrgyzstan intends to gradually implement a number of projects for the construction of hydropower plants, which are environmentally friendly sources of energy. Access to modern, clean and affordable energy services in developing countries is critical to achieving the global development goals of Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.”

In the run-up to the most-scalable to date UN climate talks - COP26 to be held in Glasgow from 31st of October-12th of November, it is highly relevant to present the country’s progress on climate action, where the adoption of the updated NDC is one of the indicators of progress. Widely presenting the document, as well as collecting opinions of the major stakeholders in the sphere is one of the key ways to ensure an inclusive country’s preparation for COP26.

 “The NDC implementation plan carries significant co-benefits such as improved food security and brings the country closer to achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Transitioning to a low carbon economy will create new jobs through the expansion of the domestic renewable energy sector. The NDC identifies and emphasizes adaptation measures in the agriculture and water sectors among the top priorities, in order to address the country’s vulnerability to climate impacts, but it also carries significant potential in the future for reducing the risks of natural resource-based conflicts and the impacts of natural disasters,” – added Louise Chamberlain, UNDP's Resident Representative in Kyrgyzstan.

Click here to read Kyrgyzstan’s NDC in full: https://www4.unfccc.int/sites/ndcstaging/PublishedDocuments/Kyrgyzstan%20First/ОНУВ%20ENG%20от%2008102021.pdf

UNDP supported Kyrgyzstan’s new climate pledge through the Climate Promise initiative. UNDP’s Climate Promise aims to support global, transformational climate action by supporting countries to enhance their NDCs in 2021 and beyond. The initiative being delivered in over 118 countries – making it the world’s largest support offer of this kind. UNDP’s Climate Promise is supported by Germany, Sweden, EU, Italy, Spain and other core contributors.

For more information on the Climate Promise, please visit:

https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/climatepromise.html