Kyrgyz Republic
Kyrgyzstan has a high-level Coordinating Commission on Green Economy and Climate Change that works to ensure multisectoral coordination of the country’s climate-related activities. Kyrgyzstan’s National Sustainable Development Strategy is a key document intended to lead the country to adopt the rational use of natural resources and to employ modern technology to reduce waste and pollution. Most of Kyrgyzstan’s climate financing comes from international sources, but the country has set up policy frameworks to promote the financing of climate activities from diverse sources. Recently, the Kyrgyz Republic has established a Climate Finance Centre as part of the Climate Investment Programme supported by the Climate Investment Funds and EBRD. As the country’s designated entity for climate finance, the Centre assists in the development of climate investment programmes and projects, coordinates stakeholder engagement, and supports the design, implementation and monitoring of climate investments. Over the past decade, Kyrgyzstan has received from international climate funds about $150 million — resources from climate funds combined with co-financing. A similar amount was provided through multilateral banks — primarily EBRD, World Bank and ADB — to energy efficiency, water resilience and disaster risk reduction, including early warning and climate observations. Several multilateral banks finance hydropower modernization projects. China remains an important source of international investment for Kyrgyzstan, particularly in the transport, energy and mining sectors. According to BIOFIN study (2019), government expenditures for environmental protection make 6.5 billion Kyrgyz som (in 2011-2016), the equivalent
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of about 1 per cent of its GDP. The private sector contributed 4.8 billion Kyrgyz som, while development partners (international financing) contributed 1.2 billion Kyrgyz som. Of the total environmental expenditures estimated at 12.8 billion Kyrgyz som, one third (3.7 billion) could be attributed to climate adaptation, where the private sector plays the lead role, the domestic public funding is the second in importance. While the share of international climate financing may be less significant than other sources, it often acts as a catalyzer of important reforms and improvements. A GCF project implemented by the World Food Programme in Kyrgyzstan provides vulnerable rural communities with climate services and helps farmers adapt their agricultural practices to the changing climate conditions. The project includes adaptation planning at the community level, the development of infrastructure, and measures to help diversify livelihoods. Another GCF project implemented by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) enhances carbon sequestration potential in forests and rangelands (GCF 2020c). FAO is also implementing a countrywide GEF project on sustainable forest and land management under climate change. The World Bank is engaged in integrated forest management improvements through institutional strengthening, investments in ecosystem restoration, and better information such as forest inventories and other information developed with GIS and remote-sensing technologies. Other GCF support goes toward adaptation planning and the country’s readiness to work with GCF, while GEF provides funding to maintain climate reporting to the UNFCCC. Kyrgyz NGOs and associations play a key role in climate action at the local level. They rely on the EU and GEF for funding to implement
