Environmental challenges in Central Asian region and the priorities of Uzbekistan’s "green" policy

A brief overview of the academic seminar on “Environmental challenges in Central Asian region and the priorities of Uzbekistan’s ‘green’ policy”, held within the fifth session of the Methodological Council of the University of World Economy and Diplomacy, April 29, 2022.

On April 29, 2022 the Methodological Council of the University of World Economy and Diplomacy arranged the academic discussion on “Environmental challenges in Central Asian region and the priorities of Uzbekistan’s ‘green’ policy” with opening remarks by the First Deputy Chairman of the Senate of Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Rector of UWED and Head of UWED Methodological Council S. Safoev.

During the workshop the key speakers Alikhanov B.B., Chairman of the Committee for the Development of the Aral Sea Region and Ecology of the Senate of Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and Azizov A.A., Head of the Research Department of Applied Ecology and Sustainable Development of the National University of Uzbekistan, widely contributed with their views, ideas and interpreted their findings on the environmental issues.

Focusing on the significance of environmental policy coherence in the course of New Uzbekistan’s Development Strategy for 2022-2026 and one of its seven vectors, namely ‘National interests-oriented approaches towards global problems’, Alikhanov B.B. summarized number of issues related to (i) the environmental peculiarities of and the ecological situation in Uzbekistan, (ii) the country’s ‘green’ policy, (iii) the specifics of ecological systems and natural complexes, (iv) challenges and threats to national environmental security, (v) significant aspects of environmental diplomacy, (vi) the environmental crisis of the ‘drying up’ of the Aral Sea and desertification of its seabed, erosion and deflationary processes within the area, (vii) comprehensive measures to implement and promote eco-innovations and technologies in the Aral Sea region, and etc. And Azizov A.A. in his report provided an overview of (i) the notion of ‘sustainable development’, the very concept, its key principles, determinants and mutually influencing factors, (ii) the laws of ecology, (iii) tasks for the completion of sustainable development policy in the socio-economic and environmental spheres in Uzbekistan, (iv) foreign and local academic and research publications and editions related to ‘sustainable development’, as well as (v) joint projects of Japan and Uzbekistan intended to minimize the soil salinity of agricultural lands in the regions of the country, and etc.

The discussion section of the workshop was followed by the Q&A session, when participants commented with their relevant views and initiatives over the need for (i) further inventory/stocktaking of  national and international regulatory frameworks of environmental law with the aim of its legislative improvement and upgrading; (ii)  ‘raising’ the level of general environmental literacy (ecoliteracy) of the population, interpolating the environmental training courses in secondary education, and integrating the disciplines on ecology with general educational standards; (iii) reliable, forehanded (well-timed), and thorough informing the population about potential environmental threats and challenges in Central Asian region, with understanding the complexity of resolving environmental issues, and the dependence of environmental management on socio-political development of each country of the region.

Foregrounding the issues of (i) “greening” the economic sector both at national and international levels, (ii) improving the conduct of environmental expertise, (iii) further developing the mechanisms of environmental law, (iv) obtaining environmental knowledge about the protection of atmospheric air, water, land and biological resources, (v) understanding the “indivisibility” of environmental challenges the First Deputy Chairman of the Senate of Uzbekistan, Rector of UWED Safoev S.S. in the concluding part of the session emphasized the need for the constructive functioning of the Center for Sustainable Development and arranging/holding in 2022 the International Conference on a comprehensive interdisciplinary study of environmental issues and risks, as well as national, regional and global trends and challenges in the very sphere, involving a wide range of scholars, experts and analysts in the field of the applied natural and social sciences.

Executive Secretary of UWED Methodological Council
Department of International Relations,
Senior Lecturer,
PhD, Muminova N.Ya.