On November 24, 2017, the Scientific and Educational Center “Green Academy” by support of the Representative Office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Kazakhstanand ERG areholding the Expert Seminar on the theme “Green Bridge Partnership Program Action Plan on transition to low-carbon development.”
The iam of the Seminar is discussion of the Green Bridge Partnership Program (GBPP) and development of recommendations for its implementation in the framework of the Paris Climate Agreement.
The GBPP was approved by the governments more than 120 states of Europe, Asia and the Pacific at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2012 and the first time from the Asian region entered to the UN Declaration. In subsequent years, the GBPP was supported at the sub-regional conferences of ESCAP, UNECE, EurAsEC, and other high-level forums and conferences. However, as noted at the opening of the seminar by Moderator, the Member of the Green Council under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Dr. Bakhyt Yessekina the practical implementation of the GBPP in term of Paris Agreement requires an expert support from international and national organizations including academia, business and NGOs.
At the opening speachesthe role of GBPP on the global and national level was underlined by Head of the European Union Delegation in the Republic of Kazakhstan Mr. Traian Laurentiu Hristea (video-message) and Deputy Chairman of the Committee of the Forestry and Wildlife of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Kazakhstan Mr. Kairat Ustemirov.
Participants of the Seminar received a first-hand information from WWF Director of the Program on Climate and Energy (Russia), Dr. Aleksey Kokorin on the outcome of the 23rd UNFCCC Conference (COP-23) just finished in Bonn (Germany). The questions of the effective international experience in energy efficiency increasing and formation of environmental policy as important directions” realization of “Green Bridge” have been devoted to the presentation of the Head of the Representative Office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Kazakhstan Mr. Thomas Helm and the Senior Expert of Austria Environment Agency by Ms. Johanna Vogel.
Special attention of participants was focused on the discussion of the financial instruments of the implementation of the GBPP in the context of the goals of sustainable development. This direction was devoted to the speech of the Director of the Permanent Mission of Asian Development Bank in Kazakhstan, Mr. Giovanni Capannelli.
The topic of the second part of the seminar was devoted to the discussion of the issues of transition to low-carbon development at the national level. Presentations on this issue were made by the Director of the Centre for Environment of the High Economics School, Ph.D. Georgy Safonov, Head of the Department of Climate Change of the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan Gulmira Galiyeva, Chief of Party of the USAID Project ” Power the Future ” Armen Arzumanyan.
During the extensive discussion in which representatives of the Senate of Parliament of RK, Administration of the President of RK, state agencies, the international organizations, Embassies of Austria, Germany, Romania, Switzerland, Akimat of Astana, business of structures, NGOs recommendations were made to the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan on further actions within the framework of the implementation of the GBPP and the Paris Climate Agreement.
