Kazakhstan ready to become regional centre for renewable energy development – Alikhan Smailov

Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov spoke at the Global Leaders' Summit of the Global Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt.

More than 120 countries participate in the climate summit. The Heads of State or Government are delivering a national address presenting the vision of their countries on the most pressing climate change issues.

In his speech, Alikhan Smailov noted Kazakhstan's firm and unwavering commitment to the goals and objectives of the Paris Climate Agreement.

"Our country has set an ambitious goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. As part of this, we plan to adopt a Low Carbon Development Strategy by the end of the year. This will be a historic moment: for the first time in Central Asia, a country is adopting such an ambitious document," Alikhan Smailov said.

According to him, Kazakhstan today has about 3% of green energy in the country's total energy output. At the same time, the country plans to increase its output to 15% by 2030, adding 7 GW of additional power by 2030. Plans are in place to reduce carbon emissions by at least 15% by 2030, he said.

"Kazakhstan has the potential to become one of the world's green energy centres. Therefore we are ready to act as a regional centre for the development of renewable energy sources and in general to stimulate the transition of Central Asia to green technologies," the Prime Minister stressed.

He added that our country will pay special attention to increasing production and exports of green hydrogen in this regard.

"I would like to highlight the importance of technological modernization, in particular, the need to introduce knowledge sharing and transfer of "clean" technologies, including within the framework of the Paris Agreement," Alikhan Smailov said.

In addition, the Kazakhstan Government is taking measures to stimulate green investments and is ready to offer the Astana International Financial Centre as a unique regional investment centre for "green" finance.

"We are also making significant efforts under the new Environmental Code and are implementing the ambitious goal of planting 2 billion trees by 2025," Alikhan Smailov stressed.

In conclusion, the Prime Minister noted the unprecedented scale of the challenges the global community is facing today.

"In this regard, we need bold solutions and equitable development models that are sustainable and equitable. Kazakhstan is ready to cooperate with all international partners on a wide range of issues on the climate agenda," Alikhan Smailov concluded.

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