The 7th Central Asian Climate Change Conference (CACCC-2025) has officially opened in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan.
The forum began with the screening of a video titled "Turkmenistan: Climate Change and the Green Transition," reports Turkmenportal.com.
Opening remarks were delivered by Turkmenistan’s Minister of Environmental Protection Charygeldi Babaniyazov, Global Director for Climate Change at the World Bank Valerie Hickey, Director of GIZ’s Regional Program Sergey Makarov, EU Ambassador to Turkmenistan Beata Peksa, and UNDP Resident Representative in Turkmenistan Narine Sahakyan.
The opening plenary session focused on regional and national climate policies, current achievements, and future plans.
Running alongside the conference is an exhibition titled "Exploring the Unique Endemic Flora and Fauna of Turkmenistan."
On May 12, the regional forum was preceded by a series of related events. These included a workshop at the OSCE Center in Ashgabat on "Empowering Youth and Women in Climate Risk Response in Turkmenistan and Central Asia." At the Yyldyz Hotel conference hall, a training session titled "Climate Change: Diverse Content and Target Audiences" was held, along with the 60th meeting of the Governing Council of the Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC). The day concluded with a two-hour regional seminar on developing climate-economic scenarios for Central Asia.
Following the conclusion of the conference, participants will visit the International Akhal-Teke Equestrian Complex in Ashgabat.
The event is organized by the Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia.
A key panel session of CACCC-2025 is dedicated to Climate Finance for Central Asia: Regional and National Perspectives.
The session is moderated by William Hynes, Senior Climate Change Economist and Co-Director of the C3A Initiative at the World Bank.
UK Ambassador Stephen Conlon delivered a presentation titled "From Aid to Action: Tackling Climate Change through Finance – The UK Perspective."
Johannes Baur, Head of Cooperation at the EU Delegation to Kazakhstan, outlined the European Union's commitments to climate financing in Central Asia.
Alessandra Fidanza, Senior Expert at Italy’s Ministry of Environment and Energy Security, introduced new climate finance opportunities from the Italian Climate Fund.
During the panel discussion, participants are exploring financial solutions and practical funding tools to accelerate the implementation of national and regional climate priorities in Central Asia.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
May 13, 2025