Kyrgyzstan: How can indicators help us to grow green? 05 Jun 2015
(Photo: UNDP in Kyrgyzstan)
Environmental conservation and poverty reduction are two of the most pressing issues facing our changing planet today. Addressing them at the same time cuts right to the heart of the development challenges we face in ensuring people – and planet – have a chance. The joint Poverty and Environment Initiative (PEI) works to tackle exactly these problems in Kyrgyzstan. With one third of the population living below the poverty line, Kyrgyzstan is thesecond poorest country in Central Asia. As agriculture accounts for 40 percent of total employment, the country presented an optimum opportunity for exploring how to take on both of these challenges at once. The intersection of these issues in Kyrgyzstan is complex: land degradation, soil erosion, water contamination and land pollution are unrelenting. And, like other countries in the region, environmental stressors such as radioactive waste from mining and growth of coalbased power plants continue to exert pressure on the environment. How can PEI assist Kyrgyzstan on the path to sustainable development? What can specially designed green growth indicators mean for Kyrgyzstan - and beyond?
“If governments are going to pursue policies designed to promote green growth,” writes the OECD. “They need indicators that can raise awareness, measure progress and identify potential opportunities and risks.” PEI supports and works closely with the Government of Kyrgyzstan which has recently approved 65 new green growth indicators set to monitor and evaluate the progress of sustainable development in the country. The indicators seek to establish a low carbon and resource efficient economy; maintain the natural resources; improve people’s quality of life; and implement appropriate policy measures to understand the economic opportunities.
But the opportunities don’t just stop at Kyrgyzstan’s borders: these indicators will be based on the OECD’s and will enable Kyrgyzstan to compare its progress with other countries. They can have major impact. As the World Bank writes: Indicators on green growth can help the public to better understand how it can contribute and support the transition to a green economy. In Kyrgyzstan, more than 40 percent of agricultural land is degraded and over 85 percent is exposed to erosion. Considering 70 percent of those living in poverty rely on agriculture, this is a crucial element for understanding how to work towards sustainable development and poverty reduction. The use of indicators will provide information on the economic performance of the agricultural sector, especially on productivity, trade and commodity prices. This knowledge will bring new economic opportunities to sustain agricultural growth, resulting in increased farm productivity and income for farmers. By adopting these indicators, the government now has a means to measure the country’s environmental health, and find new solutions and mitigate actions. It’s an exciting venture that can also ideally be replicated in neighbouring countries in Central Asia.