Opened by Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany, H.E. Mr Heiko Maas, and the High Representative of the European Union, H.E. Mr Josep Borrell, the Green Central Asia conference brought together the foreign ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, who signed a Joint Declaration of Intent on cooperation in the field of climate and security in Central Asia and Afghanistan within the framework of Green Central Asia initiative. The new initiative aims to support a dialogue between Central Asian countries and Afghanistan on climate change and associated risks in order to foster regional integration. The initiative also seeks to create better access to information and risk analyses, enabling countries to more accurately assess the impact of climate change and take preventive measures.

Several CLIENT II projects were among the 250 plus participants attending from governments, international organisations, the private sector, civil society, and the scientific community to discuss the climate and security challenges facing region. All three are collaborating with universities, research institutes and/or businesses in Central Asia to improve food security and climate resilience in the face of worsening climate change impacts. The project ReKKS is focused on improving sustainable agricultural resource use and climate adaptation in the dry Steppes of Kazakhstan and south-western Siberia; the project Locust-Tec is seeking to introduce innovative and environmentally friendly technologies for locust management in Kazakhstan, while KlimALEZ is developing innovative agricultural insurance produces to strengthen climate resilience and sustainable rural development in Central Asia. The CLIENT II regional office the Central Asian Sustainable Innovations Bureau (CASIB) also attended the conference to support networking between the projects and other regional stakeholders.

To read a full report of the conference, please click here.

To watch the video, please click here.