50th UNECE Environmental Performance Review kicks off in Astana

The third Environmental Performance Review (EPR) of Kazakhstan kicked off today, 12 March 2018, with a field mission beginning in Astana. Fourteen experts from different countries, OECD, WHO, UNEP and UNECE will work in Kazakhstan for 10 days to review the country’s progress in delivering on its green economy agenda and improving environmental performance.

The EPR will focus on the country’s progress in greening its economy, particularly the energy, industry, agriculture and health sectors. It will evaluate the Government’s efforts to abate air pollution, improve water quality, reduce waste and manage protected areas. The review comes exactly at the right moment as Kazakhstan is in the process of revising its 2013 Concept on Transition to a Green Economy and its 2007 Environmental Code.

Asked to comment, UNECE Executive Secretary Olga Algayerova said: “This third EPR of Kazakhstan is the 50th EPR organized by UNECE. It builds on the substantial experience accumulated by UNECE and its member States in using this tool to review progress in reconciling the national economic and environmental objectives. Kazakhstan has been one of the frontrunners in adopting the green economy approach. We look forward to learning about Kazakhstan’s experience and hope to equip the Government with practical recommendations to boost the national efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.

During the field mission, the team will meet governmental officials and representatives of international organizations, business, academia and non-governmental organizations. It will visit various sites such as thermal power and metallurgical plants and protected areas. The outcomes of the EPR will be peer reviewed by the UNECE Committee on Environmental Policy in January 2019, with the participation of high-level officials from Kazakhstan.

The EPR of Kazakhstan is being organized by UNECE in cooperation with the Ministry of Energy of the country. Four countries have delegated their experts for this EPR: Germany is providing an expert on water; Hungary is providing an expert on agriculture and environment; Italy delegated an expert on climate change; and Portugal is providing an expert on enforcement mechanisms. OECD is delegating an expert on green economy and trade, UNEP provides an expert on environmental monitoring and WHO is seconding an expert on environmental health. The review is supported financially by the Governments of Switzerland and Norway and the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety and the German Federal Environment Agency through their Advisory Assistance Programme. Furthermore, it receives support from the EU-funded project "Supporting Kazakhstan’s Transition to a Green Economy Model”.