QAZAQ GREEN.  This year, the Association of Renewable Energy Sources QazaqGreen proposed the creation of a voluntary market in Kazakhstan and for all Central Asian countries. This initiative provides companies that are not involved in regulatory markets with the opportunity to become buyers and improve their ESG ratings. This was told by Aida Maksut, a member of the Board of Directors of the QazaqGreen Renewable Energy Association, a certified verifier with experience in monitoring greenhouse gas emissions, an expert on climate change and the Emissions Trading Scheme in Kazakhstan.

"This year, our Association took the initiative to create a voluntary market in the republic. We offer an alternative to all Central Asian countries. Our market is open to projects that voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions, are ready to fix this process and make additional profit by selling these reductions. The buyers may be companies that do not participate in regulatory markets, that is, they are outside the emission regulation, but want to improve their ESG ratings themselves," Aida Maksut stressed.

It is noted that the state operator of the carbon units trading system in Kazakhstan has identified a subordinate organization of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan - Zhassyl Damu JSC.

The speaker also recalled that the greenhouse gas emission verifier service was launched in Kazakhstan in 2013. Verification is necessary to confirm the transparency of reports from third-party organizations on greenhouse gas emissions from companies.

"There is a Union of Verifiers of Kazakhstan in our republic, which includes companies accredited by the verification/validation authority," Aida Maksut noted. - "The country has already built an MRV system (measurement, reporting and verification), that is, issuers have learned how to monitor their emissions for 10 years, they submit reports annually. There are more than 15 verification bodies in our country that are accredited according to international standards. Active work is underway to improve the quality of verification, and further development of the country's verifiers themselves is planned to increase their level of competence so that in the future they will also be recognized in the European Union."

Verifiers in the republic can participate in verification and validation, for example, in such sectors as energy, oil and gas, chemical and mining industries, production of building materials, etc.

"This system has been operating since 2013. As an operator, we provide data on calculations of quotas for greenhouse gas emissions for further approval by the Ministry. Since 2013, 5 National Plans on Greenhouse Gas Distribution have been implemented. Currently, the allocation of quotas is carried out by benchmarking, taking into account the ratio of carbon dioxide emissions during production. It is aimed at an annual reduction," Nurzhan Kabdoldanov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Zhassyl Damu JSC, said on the opening day of the Central Asia Pavilion in Dubai at COP28.

According to him, this organization also implements a mechanism for the provision of offset units as a result of the implementation of offset projects aimed at absorbing or reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The offset project mechanism allows businesses to implement various measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, for example, in the field of renewable energy sources, or increase the absorption of greenhouse gases, including through tree planting. As a result, companies implementing such projects receive carbon units that can be sold on the domestic Kazakh market.

According to the experts of SOR28, since the signing of the Global Methane Commitment in 2021, there has been no overall reduction in methane emissions. Kayrros, a climate technology company, has found that countries are failing to reduce methane emissions by at least 30 per cent by 2030.

"We are calling for a complete ban on super emitters. Rapid reductions in methane emissions from fossil fuels could reduce global temperature rise by 0.1°C by the middle of the century, which is equivalent to an emissions impact if all cars and trucks in the world were immediately taken off the roads," Antoine Rostand, CEO and Co-Founder of Kayrros, said at COP28.

He welcomed the EU's proposed limits on methane emissions from gas imports, which force suppliers to reduce leaks. This may encourage others to consider similar measures.