The Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in close co-operation and consultation with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in November 2017 launched a pilot project on strategic environmental assessment (SEA). The workshop is carried out in the framework of the project "Supporting Kazakhstan's Transition to a Green Economy Model" with the funding from the EU Commission and the OSCE Programme Office in Astana.

It targets to build capacities and raise awareness in application of the SEA procedures at a national level and provide recommendations for environmental optimisation and modifications of the Concept for development of fuel and energy complex until 2030 (Concept) that is currently under revision of the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan.

The aim of the public consultations workshop organized within the pilot project, is to provide an opportunity to relevant stakeholders to get familiar with and comment on the findings and results of the scoping stage of SEA of the Concept, specifically on the proposed scope of further assessment and initial recommendations regarding the Concept for development of fuel and energy complex until 2030. The conclusions from the workshop will be taken into consideration for further analysis under the next steps of the SEA pilot project.

The event gathered representatives of the governmental agencies including the line Ministries of Energy, Health Protection and Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan, experts, academia, and non-governmental organizations to:

• present and disseminate findings and results of the scoping stage of SEA pilot;
• get a feedback on the proposed scope of SEA and initial recommendations regarding the Concept;
• inform participants on further steps and actions within the SEA pilot including further opportunities for their participation.