event 23 jun. 2022

Nexus Regional Dialogue Central Asia // EU helps identify investment needs to address Water-Energy-Food challenges in Central Asia

CENTRAL ASIA – The Regional Steering Committee (RSC) of the EU-funded project “Nexus Dialogue in Central Asia” gathered at its 4th meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, in the run-up to the 2nd International High-Level Conference on the 2018-2028 International Decade for Action "Water for Sustainable Development". The meeting took stock of the results achieved by the project over the last 7 months and marked the transition from the analytical works to the elaboration of investment project proposals.

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The project’s overall objective is to institutionalise the Nexus approach in national and regional governance structures and investment decisions for water, energy and food security. The RSC members, representing sectoral ministries and agencies of five Central Asian countries, ensure smooth implementation of the project in line with their national priorities and unlock the water-energy-food (WEF) investment potential for national and regional development programs.

“In line with the EU Green Deal, the EU promotes a more efficient use of such vital resources as water, energy and food. The Nexus approach helps find optimal solutions to make sure that actions in one sector positively contribute to progress in other sectors. We are fully committed to support the green transition through viable investment projects to ensure long-term resilience, peace and prosperity of the region,” stated Mr Johannes Stenbaek Madsen, Head of Cooperation, EU Delegation to Kazakhstan.

To date, all analytical works carried out by the project under the demonstration projects in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan had been completed and endorsed by government officials. At the meeting, the project’s experts presented the results of holistic assessments, sedimentation estimations and its forecast growth at Ruslovoe reservoir and laboratory experiments on exploring the potential of the sediment recycling at the Tuyamuyun Hydroelectric Complex ("THC”), investment proposals on introduction of the smart and energy efficient technologies at the metering system and the Golodnostep pumping station in Tajikistan, and piloting the closed root system on saxaul growing the North Aral Sea in Kazakhstan.

“The THC transboundary demo project has displayed an enormous investment potential of the reservoir’s sediments that should be treated as a precious raw material and could be recycled. This is already done by the private sector in developed economies and our region needs support for transfer of knowledge as well as to explore the investment potential of sediments,” stated Mr Kurbanbai Babazhanov, Head of the THC Operation Division.

The "Nexus Dialogue in Central Asia" is implemented by the Central Asian Regional Environmental Centre (CAREC). The project’s duration: June 2020 – June 2023; total budget: EUR 1.25 million, including the EU’s contribution of EUR 1 million.

The second phase (2020-2023) of the European Union project "Central Asian Dialogue to Promote Sectoral Financing through the Water-Energy-Food Nexus" is a continuation of the first phase (2016-2019) and is being implemented by the Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC). The project’s duration: June 2020 – May 2023; total budget: EUR 1.25 million with the EU’s contribution of EUR 1 million. The project is a part of the global Nexus Dialogue Programme, which is supported by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in five regions.

This article was first published on the CAREC website on June 3, 2022.

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