With UNEP's Support Central Asian States Tighten Cooperation to Achieve SDGs

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UNEP solidified its presence in Central Asia this year by opening a new sub-regional office in Almaty, Kazakhstan in May 2015, and has already made strides in empowering countries to tighten cooperation on sustainable development, climate change and the environment.

A series of key meetings were organized to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Ministers and high-level officials from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan attended an Interstate Commission on Sustainable Development of Central Asia (ICSD) meeting supported by UNEP in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. There, the countries called on UNEP to support their work on mountains and waste management as well as their transition to a Green Economy and green legislation ahead of the Environment for Europe ministerial meeting.

At a later conference in Almaty, Kazakhstan, the countries agreed on a pathway towards realizing the SDG 12 by shifting to sustainable consumption and production patterns. The event was held as part of the 10-year framework of programmes on sustainable consumption and production patterns (10 YFP).

The work areas identified by countries for the near future will require an enhanced coordination among different layers of environmental governance, involving a range of stakeholders. With its new sub-regional office, UNEP is perfectly positioned to provide assistance to countries in these endeavours.

This will partly be done through the ICSD together with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

Source: http://bit.ly/1ZPyi5a