Government, non-profit organizations, scientists and civil society representatives called for increased action to improve air quality in Central Asia during the third Air Quality Central Asia (AQCA) conference in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Central Asian countries primarily rely on fossil fuels for heating, industry and transport, making air pollution one of the leading risk factors for poor health, experts say. This disproportionately affects children; around one in five infant deaths in Europe and Central Asia are due to air pollution.
To shift towards clean air, United Nations experts, city representatives and hydrometeorological officials, said at AQCA that Central Asian countries should strengthen legislation, foster cross-border cooperation, bolster public engagement and establish a common, open-access air quality monitoring network. These steps, stakeholders said, could help address key concerns related to air pollution, such as dust storms, waste-burning and emissions.
The conference, convened by the Air Quality Central Asia Platform, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and civil society partners, took place on 19 and 20 September and was the biggest of its kind in the region.
“The sixth UN Environment Assembly passed a resolution calling for greater regional cooperation on air pollution to improve air quality, and that’s exactly what happened here,” said Aidai Kurmanova, Head of UNEP’s Central Asia Office.
Enhancing action on air pollution
Stakeholders highlighted the potential of nature-based solutions to improve urban air quality and mitigate the impacts of more frequent sand and dust storms. The Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, aims to increase green spaces from the current coverage of 5.45 square metres per person to 21 square metres to reduce the impact of sand and dust storms..
The conference also emphasized innovative approaches to air quality monitoring such as using satellites to track sand and dust storms.
“The data is free – it’s about processing it,” said Katja Loven, Head of the Air Quality and Energy Group at the Finnish Meteorological Institute.
Air pollution data is also collected at community level. MoveGreen, an NGO from the Kyrgyz Republic that co-led the conference, is one of the organizations that has contributed to installing 109 monitoring devices in Central Asia, including for monitoring indoor air quality. Despite this progress, only two out of five Central Asian countries are party to the UN Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution, a multilateral environmental agreement to reduce prevent air pollution. Two countries in the region lack legal mechanisms to manage transboundary air pollution. Each country can benefit from its neighbours’ successful actions and policies, including transitioning to modern air quality indexes, experts say.
“We need to improve our regional cooperation, given the transboundary nature of air pollution,” said Zhomart Aliyev, Vice Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Stakeholders from Central Asian countries are now drafting more detailed recommendations to help guide policy decisions towards cleaner air.
For more information, contact ekaterina.perfilyeva2@un.org
