First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Akan Rakhmetullin received a United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) delegation led by Arnold Kreilhuber, Regional Director and UNEP Representative for Europe. The visit was organized by UNEP to strengthen comprehensive cooperation with Kazakhstan,El.kz cites MFA.
During the negotiations, the parties exchanged views on the global environmental agenda, where they discussed the impact of climate change on Kazakhstan’s and Central Asia countries’ sustainable development.
First Deputy Minister Rakhmetullin informed about Kazakhstan’s initiatives in ecology and sustainable development, including the holding of the Regional Climate Summit in 2026 under the UN auspices, the “One Water Summit” with the French side, and the launch of the Project Office for Central Asia on climate change and green energy. “Our country is committed to the goals and objectives of the UN environmental conventions, and we hope to implement breakthrough green projects with UNEP”, – noted the Kazakh diplomat.
In turn, Arnold Kreilhuber highly appreciated the active environmental position of our country, including the initiative to hold a Regional Climate Summit in 2026 under the UN auspices. He expressed UNEP’s readiness to become a co-organizer of this event. “Kazakhstan is home to us, as our Sub-Regional Office for Central Asia is located in Almaty, so we highly value cooperation with your country in the environmental and climate fields”, – said the UN representative.
In this regard, Regional Director shared plans to strengthen the capacity of the UNEP Sub-Regional Office in Almaty and the UN agency’s future projects in Kazakhstan and Central Asian countries.
Importantly, the parties mutually agreed to actively promote common projects and set out clear steps for their further implementation.