Central Asian countries have united at the inaugural Regional Ecological Summit, where they launched new regional partnerships to jointly address the circular economy and glaciers, as well as establish common approaches to supporting biodiversity, climate action and air pollution.
“The beautiful and diverse region of Central Asia is facing significant challenges – from temperatures rising faster than the global average to biodiversity loss, degrading mountain ecosystems, and air pollution, including sand and dust storms. These are shared challenges that demand shared solutions,” said UNEP Executive Director, Inger Andersen. “This Summit is demonstrating how multilateralism, driven by strong regional cooperation, can build resilience and deliver progress for millions of people.”
The Heads of State of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan endorsed a new regional partnership on circular economy.
The platform will be supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and gather commitments from all five states based on a common understanding of circularity for the region. According to the World Bank, investing US$289 million towards circularity in the Kazakh construction sector, for example, could reap economic benefits worth US$1.3 billion and slash national greenhouse gas emissions by 5 per cent.
Speaking at the Summit, Andersen also highlighted the risks facing the Caspian Sea, where water levels have dropped by around two metres since the 1990s, with projections of a further decline of 8 to 21 metres.
At a High-Level Ministerial Dialogue on the Tehran Convention, the Executive Director said: “This is both and environmental crisis and a human crisis. Damage to the Caspian Sea threaten ports, fisheries, infrastructure and coastal communities – with major economic costs, threats to food security and the potential displacement of millions of people.”
Reflecting on the importance of the Tehran Convention, which has been in force since 2006 and is supported by UNEP as its secretariat, Andersen underscored how the Convention can help Caspian nations through transboundary collaboration and “integrated solutions that safeguard ecosystems, support livelihoods and promote equitable economic growth.” The full speech is available online.
A regional platform on glaciers was also unveiled at the Summit, reflecting growing urgency around water security. Glaciers provide between 30 and 60 per cent of Central Asia’s freshwater, yet accelerated melting is increasing risks of droughts, floods and long-term scarcity, with implications for agriculture, energy and livelihoods in the region.
In parallel, countries endorsed a regional declaration on biodiversity, recognising healthy ecosystems as a foundation for resilience and sustainable development and committed to strengthening data sharing, joint monitoring, and integrated action across key sectors. The countries extended these same commitments to address air pollution, with a focus on sectors such as energy, transport, industry, and sand and dust storm management. A regional climate and ecology investment portfolio was also set up to expand access to international finance for environmental action.
The scale of shared environmental challenges in the region underlines the need for a transboundary response.
Central Asia is among the regions most affected by air pollution, which causes 65,000 to 71,000 lives to end prematurely in the region each year, with several countries in the region ranked among the top 30 most polluted worldwide. Central Asia is also one of the world’s leading hotspots for major methane leaks, presenting a significant opportunity to reduce emissions through UNEP’s International Methane Emissions Observatory and its Methane Alert and Response System.
Meanwhile, the region is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, threatening both humans and wildlife. Migratory species such as snow leopards adapt by altering their movements and habitat use, which can render existing Protected Areas ineffective.
As part of the ‘Central Asian Mammals and Climate Adaptation’ project, UNEP supported the Kyrgyz Republic in creating a new ecological corridor of around 800,000 hectares that takes future climate impacts into account and could be linked to protected areas in other states in the future.
About the UN Environment Programme
The UN Environment Programme is the leading global voice on the environment. It provides leadership and encourages partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations. UNEP’s Central Asia Office in Almaty has acted as a regional hub for environmental action since it was established in 2015.
About the Regional Ecological Summit
The Regional Ecological Summit is convened by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and aims to shape a shared vision for the sustainable development for Central Asia. The Summit takes place in Astana, Kazakhstan on 22-24 April 2026 under the theme of ‘Shared vision for a resilient future’.
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