QAZAQ GREEN. The Mitigation Action Facility announced the selection of seven innovative projects, with Kazakhstan among them. Implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Kazakhstan, the project with a total budget of EUR€ 6 million aims to enhance grid efficiency, mitigate energy losses, and reduce dependence on coal-based power generation, according to UNDP Kazakhstan. 

"The new project aims to analyze current policies and introduce the regulatory reforms to modernize the grid, demonstrate the viability of advanced technologies, strengthen financial sector capacity, and encourage regional replication of successes," noted Katarzyna Wawiernia, UNDP Resident Representative in Kazakhstan.

As Central Asia's largest greenhouse gas emitter, Kazakhstan faces critical challenges in transforming its energy system. Its carbon intensity stands at 0.26 tCO2 per US$1,000 of GDP, which is two times higher than that of the EU. The energy sector contributes approximately 85 percent of national emissions, with electricity and heat generation alone accounting for over half of this figure.

The EU Ambassador to Kazakhstan, Aleška Simkić noted: “The European Union welcomes Kazakhstan’s ambition regarding decarbonisation and achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions within a generation, by 2060. There are many steps to take to get there. With this project, we are supporting Kazakhstan in its efforts to modernise its energy systems and reduce losses. EU experience shows that integrating a higher-level green electricity requires well interconnected and modern grids. We are proud to work with Kazakhstan on this goal.”

Ullrich Kinne, Chargé d‘affaires a.i. of the German Embassy in Astana, said: “With this and many other projects, Germany is supporting Kazakhstan’s path to carbon neutrality by 2060. The agreement on international carbon markets achieved at COP29 in Baku opens many new possibilities in this regard.”

The Mitigation Action Facility is a go-to platform driving climate action across sectors. Established in 2012 by the governments of Germany, Denmark, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the Children's Investment Fund Foundation as a grant-based programme, it provides technical support and climate finance for mitigation projects. 

“The UK strives to accelerate transformational climate action projects and so we are delighted that UNDP’s project proposal for Kazakhstan has won funding from the Mitigation Action Facility, a fund supported by the UK and other partners. Green transformation means green electricity – resilient, energy saving 21st century grids are at the heart of this project and essential to developing a decarbonised, diversified, modernised economy in Kazakhstan,” said Kathy Leach, British Ambassador to Kazakhstan.

This initiative supports Kazakhstan's updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), which aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 15 percent unconditionally and 25 percent conditionally by 2030. It also aligns with the Concept for the Development of Energy Saving and Improving Energy Efficiency in the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2023-2029, promoting energy-saving technologies and reducing transmission losses. It is expected that the project will indirectly avert more than 114 million tons of CO2 emissions.