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Regional / Multi-Country Interventions › Enhancing Climate Ambition through SCP and Circular Economy in Central Asia

Location: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan

Themes: Climate, Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP), Circular Economy

The Challenge

Unsustainable patterns of consumption and production are key drivers of the triple planetary crises, climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. The Central Asian region, with its abundant natural resources and rapid economic transformation, faces mounting sustainability challenges. The region’s high dependence on resource extraction industries, combined with increasing climate vulnerabilities such as water scarcity, desertification, and extreme weather events, underscores the urgency of integrating sustainability principles into economic and climate policies.

Central Asian countries, namely, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, have all recognized the importance of a green economy transition. Each country has made strategic commitments toward sustainable development, and the integration of Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) and Circular Economy (CE) approaches into their climate policies, including Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategies (LT-LEDS), presents an opportunity to strengthen climate ambition. Given the upcoming NDC updates in 2025, this is an opportune moment to support these countries in identifying and implementing SCP and CE strategies to enhance their climate targets while ensuring sustainable economic growth.

Objectives

This Technical Advisory (TA) project aims to identify opportunities to align SCP and Circular Economy principles with the climate ambitions of Central Asian countries, particularly in the context of NDC 3.0 and LT-LEDS. The project will enhance synergies among policies on climate action, material resource efficiency, and sustainable development by engaging key national and regional stakeholders in knowledge exchange and policy co-creation.

The overall objective of this TA is to integrate SCP and Circular Economy policies and actions into the climate commitments of Central Asian countries, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of their NDCs and LT-LEDS.

This initiative will:

Conduct a rapid assessment of climate policies, SCP priorities, and material resource use across Central Asian countries to identify key synergies and gaps.
Organize multi-stakeholder consultations at national and regional levels to explore the potential of SCP and CE strategies in climate mitigation and adaptation.
Develop policy recommendations in collaboration with national and regional stakeholders to strengthen climate ambition through SCP and CE integration.
Establish a knowledge exchange platform to facilitate regional dialogue, promote best practices, and engage in UNFCCC and other global processes.
Provide on-demand technical assistance to support specific sectoral SCP and CE target development within NDC 3.0 and LT-LEDS.

Way Forward

Strengthened climate action in Central Asia through the integration of SCP and CE strategies into national policies.
Enhanced national and regional collaboration on sustainable resource management and climate mitigation.
Increased engagement of stakeholders, including government agencies, private sector actors, and civil society, in SCP and CE policy development.
Development of actionable policy recommendations and technical support to facilitate the transition to a low-carbon, resource-efficient economy in Central Asia.