Italy's capital Rome on February 23-24, hosted the seventh European Union – Central Asia High-Level Conference on Environment and Water Cooperation under the auspices of the EU-Central Asia Platform for Environment and Water Cooperation.
Reportedly, the event saw over one hundred delegates, including Uzbekistan's Minister of Natural Resources Aziz Abdukhakimov and high-level Central Asian and EU diplomats, who discussed strategic and pragmatic issues related to water, environment, climate change, and sustainable growth in Central Asia and stressed the challenges to accelerating the green transition and facilitating further green investments.
"In November 2022, the EU launched the Global Gateway Team Europe Initiative on Water, Energy, and Climate Change in Central Asia. This flagship initiative, which brings together member states and European financial institutions, aims to support regional cooperation and governance for sustainable development and to increase investment in a regionally integrated blue and green transition," EU Special Representative for Central Asia Terhi Hakala said.
The participants also agreed to collaborate to implement the Paris Agreement and strengthen efforts towards achieving climate neutrality, reviewed the results of the platform's activities since the previous high-level conference in Uzbekistan's capital Tashkent in 2019, discussed the platform's priorities for 2023-2025, and agreed on steps to enhance policy dialogue and capacity development.
"Central Asia is one of the regions that is most affected by these challenges, and it is, therefore, more important than ever that we work together as partners towards building networks, trust, and cooperation for the green transition, which will benefit us all ‒ Central Asia and the EU," Director for Green Diplomacy and Multilateralism in the European Commission's Directorate General for Environment Astrid Schomaker said.
Central Asia Nexus Dialogue Project, a side event of the high-level conference, was also organized to reflect on investment needs and project opportunities based on the connection between water, energy, and food security.
"We are fully committed to supporting the green transition through viable investment projects to ensure long-term sustainability, peace, and prosperity in the region," said Johannes Baur, head of cooperation at the EU Delegation to Kazakhstan.
The next EU-Central Asia high-level conference is set to take place in Kazakhstan in 2026.
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