The impacts of climate change don’t go easy on Uzbekistan, adding to the geopolitical tensions that pose risks to the country. Still, these don’t stop Uzbekistan’s resilient economic transition and transformation initiatives.
To help it attain Uzbekistan’s resilient economic transition and ambitious goals, the World Bank granted $800 million in concessional loans in October. This can help the country’s reform strategy to accelerate its shift to a robust and inclusive market economy.
Grounded in social inclusion, resilience, and climate action while being supported by the World Bank, the structural reform program seeks to improve the business climate in Uzbekistan and increase the efficiency of the energy, railway, and agricultural sectors. It also aims to improve public finances’ management, increase social protection services’ availability, and fortify the nation’s readiness for environmental and climate change threats.
While only accounting for 2% of the greenhouse gas emissions globally, Central Asia remains highly susceptible to climate change. Compared to the global average of 0.7 degrees Celsius, the region’s temperature has risen by 1.5 degrees over the last three decades.
The Central Asian glacier zone, where glacier size has dropped by over 30% during the 1980s, is where this warming trend is most noticeable. Consequently, the per capita water supply is rapidly decreasing, making the region even more vulnerable. Central Asian nations are categorized as “insufficiently provided” with aquatic resources.
Uzbekistan is more susceptible to droughts, heat waves, high temperatures, heavy precipitation, mudflows, floods, and avalanches as a result of climate change. Reduced river runoff, particularly from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya Rivers, may make droughts more common. Aside from that, there are also threats of avalanches, locust invasions, and landslides.
Through these and other World Bank climate action programs, Uzbekistan is funding adaptation strategies like sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, and water resource management. In order to sustain food security and help rural communities’ lives, these initiatives are vital.
For Uzbekistan’s resilient economic transition, the development policy agenda prioritizes expanding social protections, addressing gender-based violence, and ensuring land security, especially for farmers. There will be legislation reforms to strengthen investor protections and enhance public finance transparency to attract more local and foreign investments. Climate projects are a priority, and new laws focus on energy efficiency, better water management, and emission reductions.
Furthermore, this initiative also aims to improve environmental evaluations in order to protect public health and natural resources and raise climate-sensitive investments to speed up the transition to a green economy.
Reduced emissions, more efficiency, and increased private sector participation in renewable energy are the goals of infrastructure reforms in the energy and railway sectors, along with steps to protect disadvantaged populations from tariff increases.
The World Bank’s highly concessional loans give the government low-cost, long-term repayment alternatives that are more advantageous than those in global financial markets. Lower loan payback rates will therefore help Uzbekistan, freeing up more funds for its social and economic priorities.