KAZAKHSTAN: U.S. AIR WAR COLLEGE DELEGATION MEETS WITH

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SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN
STATE FOR OES, PHUDAK, NFITE

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TAGS: PGOV EPET SENV KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: U.S. AIR WAR COLLEGE DELEGATION MEETS WITH
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT

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1. SUMMARY: Three main documents serve as the basis for
Kazakhstan's environmental activities and underpin the government's
environmental policies, Ministry of Environment official told a
visiting U.S. Air War College delegation on March 2. These
documents are the Environmental Code, the Concept Document on
Ecological Security, and the Concept Documents on the Transition to
Sustainable Development (the latter two are presidential decrees).
Kazakhstan's parliament ratified the Kyoto Protocol on February 26
and the President is expected to sign it in the coming days.
Kazakhstan has implemented a number of large-scale environmental
projects, including wetland conservation, biodiversity preservation,
and drylands restoration. Kazakhstan has also prepared a draft law
on renewable energy. While the Semipalatinsk area (the former
Soviet nuclear test site) continues to have serious environmental
problems, Kazakhstan has been able to revive part of the North Aral
Sea and raise its water level six meters. Kazakhstan wants to
organize a five-country water-energy consortium, because the
problems of water and energy are interconnected. The new Tax Code
has standardized and fixed pollution fees, thereby helping companies
better assess their future costs for long-term investment. The five
littoral countries bordering the Caspian Sea signed a framework
convention to protect the Caspian's environment, even though there
is still no final agreement on Caspian demarcation. END SUMMARY.

THE LEGAL ENVIRONMENTAL FRAMEWORK


2. The Director of the Ministry of Environmental Protection's
Department of Legal Provision and International Cooperation,
Alexander Bragin, accompanied by Department of Environmental Policy
and Sustainable Development Director Bolat Bekniyaz and Committee of
Environmental Regulation and Control Deputy Chairman Yerlan Ospanov,
told a visiting U.S. Air War College delegation on March 2 that
three documents serve as the basis for Kazakhstan's environmental
activities and underpin all of the government's environmental
policies: the Environmental Code, the Concept Document on
Ecological Security (2004-2015),and the Concept Document on
Transition to Sustainable Development (2007-2024). The latter two
are presidential decrees.


3. Bragin said Kazakhstan's Environmental Code is unique in the
entire post-Soviet region in that Kazakhstan has presented it to the
UN General Assembly and it complies with all EU environmental
regulations, as well as with those of most advance developed
countries. He said Kazakhstan's long-term strategic sustainable
development plan has 12 broad parameters, including quality of life,
longevity, productivity, and the effective use of resources.

ACTIVE INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ON ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES


4. Bragin said Kazakhstan actively cooperates with international
partners and has ratified 25 of the most important environmental
conventions. He noted that Kazakhstan's parliament ratified the
Kyoto Protocol on February 26 and said the President is expected to
sign it in the coming days. Bragin said Kazakhstan hosted a
sustainable development forum on energy in 2008, and announced that
in 2010, Kazakhstan will host a conference of ministers of
environment from the Asian-Pacific region, and in 2012 it will host
a senior-level conference of ministers of environment from the
Eurasian region, with the United States and Canada invited to
participate.

DRYLANDS MANAGEMENT PROJECT


5. Bragin said Kazakhstan has implemented a number of large-scale
environmental projects funded by the Global Environment Facility
(GEF),including wetland conservation, biodiversity preservation,
and drylands restoration. He explained that the Drylands
(Grasslands) Management Project's initial phase, sponsored by the
World Bank, was confined to 15,000 hectares in the Shetsky district
in South Karaganda oblast. The project's aim is to restore the
grasslands to sustainability. The government plans to launch a
second phase soon that will cover the whole country. He said most

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of these lands have seriously eroded as a result of the Soviet-era
"Virgin Lands" campaign, and in some places have even become desert.
The goal now is to restore traditional "no-till" cultivation
methods, natural steppe flora, and livestock open range grazing to
avoid concentrating livestock in one location that could lead to
overgrazing and further land degradation.

RENEWABLE ENERGY


6. Bragin said Kazakhstan has also prepared a draft law on
renewable energy and President Nazarbayev has asked the government
to develop a strategy for a more efficient use of renewable energy.
He said Kazakhstan's renewable energy potential is "huge" and noted
that in southern Kazakhstan, the total capacity of micro hydro
stations is four gigawatts. One of Kazakhstan's goals is to develop
sufficient renewable wind and solar energy power and potable water
resources to permit the return to nomadic traditions in the steppes.
As nomads move with their livestock, they should be able to find
readily available renewable energy and potable water to help sustain
this traditional lifestyle.

SEMIPALATINSK REMAINS A DIFFICULT ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM


7. Bragin maintained that there remains a radioactive waste problem
in the Semipalatinsk area (the former Soviet nuclear test site,
where there were more than 100 above-ground nuclear explosions).
Kazakhstan has brought this matter before the United Nations twice,
but unfortunately there has been very little international aid.
NATO has supported two projects and Great Britain one. Kazakhstan
has done most of the rehabilitation work, and has a comprehensive
rehabilitation project underway through 2009. It plans a similar
follow-on project to run through 2012.

NORTH ARAL SEA: SOME RECOVERY, BUT STILL IN DANGER


8. Bragin said that even though Kazakhstan, with the help of the
World Bank, has been able to revive part of the north Aral Sea and
raise its water level six meters, the Aral Sea is still in jeopardy
and the government has decided to raise this issue at the next
session of the UN General Assembly. He mentioned the International
Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) as an organization active in
saving the Aral Sea, but in spite of its work and the work of other
similar groups, the Aral Sea continues to shrink. He said that
unless something dramatic and unforeseen happens, in spite of the
efforts of governments in the region, the south and east parts of
the Aral Sea will not return to their previous state. Most of the
water flowing into the Aral Sea comes from the Syr-Darya River,
flowing through Uzbekistan. Currently, he said there is hardly any
water reaching the Aral Sea, and unless the regional water
management problem is resolved, the problem of the Aral Sea will not
be solved. Bragin said Kazakhstan is "doing its best, but other
countries are not cooperating." Kazakhstan has been somewhat
successful in the north Aral Sea, but has no ability to affect the
rest of the Aral Sea. There is currently discussion of creating a
five-country water consortium in Central Asia to address this
problem, but Bragin said Kazakhstan would prefer to see a
water-energy consortium, because the problems of water and energy
are interconnected.

POLLUTION FEES


9. Bragin said that the government has been able to gain more
control over the environmental programs of "national resource
companies" (e.g., oil and gas companies, mining companies, etc.).
He claimed that the Ministry's objective is to reduce resource
companies' overall pollution fees. In the past, local governments
determined what substances were "pollutants" and how much the
pollutant fees were. In many cases, companies were paying for
emissions on an unlimited number of substances. The new Tax Code
now stipulates which substances are "pollutants" and sets a fixed
fee, changeable from year to year. As a result, companies can
better assess future costs. Bragin said the bulk of the pollution

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fees go into local government budgets, and only 30 percent goes into
the general budget earmarked for environmental projects. As a
result, the Ministry of Environment is less concerned about
assessing pollution fees and more concerned about properly
implemented environmental programs.

CASPIAN SEA


10. Bragin said the Caspian Sea is one of Central Asia's most
serious environmental problems. It has attracted a great deal of
attention because this is where most of Central Asia's oil is
produced. The five littoral countries (Azerbaijan, Iran,
Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan) have signed the Framework
Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the
Caspian Sea, calling on the states to protect the Caspian Sea's
fragile environment. Unfortunately, he said, the littoral states
have not finalized an agreement on the Caspian's demarcation. The
Caspian Environmental Program Office, previously located in Tehran,
will now move to Astana as part of its regular rotation through the
littoral countries.

HOAGLAND