19/12/2022 - 15:36 4535

The issue of climate change remains relevant for the Republic of Uzbekistan, as climate variability is becoming more noticeable every year and climate-dependent dangerous phenomena are becoming more frequent – heat and cold waves, as well as their duration, and intense precipitation, which lead to the occurrence of mudslides, flood threats, and avalanches, and often crop loss, drought and water scarcity, soil degradation, and dust storms, etc. All this directly affects the socio-economic infrastructure, the environment, vital activity, well-being, and health of the population.

Adaptation to climate change should become a common and necessary component of planning at all levels of government and in all sectors of the economy of the republic. National adaptation planning will help assess the vulnerability of economic sectors to the effects of climate change, take into account the risks associated with climate change, and solve the problems of financing adaptation measures. 

 The training on the economic assessment of adaptation measures to climate change and the identification of priority measures, which was held on December 15-16, 2022 in Tashkent, was devoted to this issue. The training was organized within the framework of the project "National Adaptation Plan (NAP), aimed at the most vulnerable sectors of the economy and regions to climate change, to promote medium- and long-term planning of adaptation measures and actions in Uzbekistan".

For reference: The project is being implemented in partnership with the Hydrometeorological Service Center (Uzhydromet), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) with the financial support of the Green Climate Fund (ZKF). Dates: 2020-2023. Pilot regions: Resupblika Karakalpakstan, Khorezm and Bukhara regions. Key sectors: agriculture, water resources, healthcare, housing and emergency management. Objective: To strengthen institutional and technical capacity for the development of a National Adaptation Plan (NAP) and the integration of adaptation to climate change into national and subnational planning and budgeting processes in Uzbekistan.

 The training was attended by employees of the Ministry of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Water Management, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Uzhydromet.

 The assessment of adaptation measures is aimed at taking into account the economic, ecosystem, and social costs and benefits, as well as the possibilities of unintended (positive or negative) impacts of adaptation measures on the population, economic sectors, and the environment. Reliable estimates of the costs and benefits of adaptation provide the basis for budgeting, as well as evaluating the value for money of the activities carried out.

 The key issues that need to be taken into account when choosing a suitable tool for economic assessment and prioritization of adaptation measures are:

- What are the costs and benefits of each adaptation option? Is it possible to single out and calculate (measure in monetary terms) all the costs and benefits?

- How can adaptation options be implemented in the best way and what are the conditions for achieving the result?

- Is it possible to determine and measure in monetary terms the co-benefits between adaptation options and development? 

 The national experts of the project, based on the research of world experience, and climatic and socio-economic features of Uzbekistan, have developed recommendations on the economic assessment of climate change measures and prioritization in the adaptation process. 

 During the training, the participants were provided with information on adaptation measures to climate change and its consequences, as well as the criteria for choosing priorities were analyzed. In particular, methods of cost-benefit analysis, profitability method, multi-criteria analysis, and investment analysis methods were considered in theoretical and practical classes. 

 Also, the participants of the training received detailed information about the legal basis of environmental regulation and benefits. Having familiarized with the foreign experience of environmental and economic incentives, we studied and discussed how the financing and budgeting of adaptation measures to climate change are carried out. 

 Training on the economic assessment of adaptation measures will also be held in the pilot regions of the project. 

 

Information Service of the

Ministries of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction