KAZAKHSTAN: ASTANA HOSTS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASTANA 000495

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STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EEB, OES/PCI (PHUDAK, NFITE)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL EPET ECON SENV ZK KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: ASTANA HOSTS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL INTEGRATION

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1. (U) SUMMARY: During the International Conference on Sustainable
Development and Environmental Integration in Central Asia held in
Astana on March 13, newly appointed Kazakhstani Minister of
Environmental Protection Nurgali Ashimov said that Kazakhstan's
Environmental Code is the first in the CIS and is in "complete
harmony" with the environmental laws of developed countries.
European Commission head of mission Norbert Jousten noted that the
environment is linked to the economy and thus the current financial
crisis should not divert our attention from environmental concerns.
World Bank official Peter Thompson highlighted the serious
environmental challenges in Central Asia but also noted several
successes, including the northern Aral Sea. UNECE representative
Bulat Yesekin argued that Central Asian governments are not willing
to follow through on agreements they have signed on environmental
cooperation. Kazakhstani Business Association for Sustainable
Development representative Gulsara Edilbayeva said that
environmental standards must meet international norms and should not
be arbitrary. END SUMMARY.

ENVIRONMENT MINISTER'S OPENING REMARKS


2. (U) In his opening remarks at the International Conference on
Sustainable Development and Environmental Integration in Central
Asia, which was held in Astana on March 13 and sponsored by the
European Commission and the Government of Kazakhstan, newly
appointed Kazakhstani Minister of Environmental Protection Nurgali
Ashimov said that President Nazarbayev has always focused on the
importance of the sustainable development in the Eurasia region as a
whole, which is a formula critical for the survival of the
Kazakhstani people. Kazakhstan has signed a Framework Convention on
Sustainable Development with Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and
Turkmenistan. Sustainable development needs to be considered in
context of the world's other problems, including the current
financial crisis. Ashimov said Kazakhstan's Environmental Code is
the first in the CIS and is in complete harmony with the
environmental laws of developed countries.

ENVIRONMENT LINKED TO ECONOMY


3. (U) European Commission Ambassador to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and
Tajikistan Norbert Jousten congratulated Kazakhstan on its recent
signing of the Kyoto Protocol and agreed that Kazakhstan's
Environmental Code meets the highest standards. He noted that the
global financial crisis might cause people to think the economy is
much more important than the environment, but the two are tightly
linked. He said the EU's main areas of environmental focus are
climate change, health, biodiversity, and the sustainable use of
natural resources.


4. (U) Jousten said the EU's Central Asian strategy contains a
strategy for water management, climate change, fighting
desertification, and providing support for the development of
renewable energy. EU-Central Asian cooperation is increasing, and
the environment is a key aspect. He mentioned several projects that
are underway, including a 1.8 million euro project on integrated
water resource management involving Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan; 1.5 million euros for an environmental
center; and support for the Central Asian countries to sign the
Aarhus Convention. (NOTE: The United Nations Economic Commission
for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Access to Information, Public
Participation in Decision-Making, and Access to Justice in
Environmental Matters, is better known as the Aarhus Convention.
END NOTE.)

SOME PROGRESS ON NORTHERN ARAL SEA


5. (U) World Bank Sustainable Development Department Director Peter
Thompson said that water, energy, and agriculture pose serious
challenges in Central Asia. He noted the conflicting interests of
upstream countries using water for energy, verses downstream
countries that need it for irrigation. To make matters worse, up to
50 percent of water is lost due to the poor irrigation system

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inherited from the Soviet era. He argued that water pricing and
management is very inefficient, leading to an increase in land
degradation, with serious implications for long-term food security.
He noted that the Aral Sea, once the world's fourth largest lake,
has shrunk 70 percent since 1960, its water level has dropped almost
20 meters, and it has now split into northern and southern portions.
The World Bank and Kazakhstan have managed to restore part of the
northern Aral Sea by means of the Kok-Aral Dike, constructed to
separate the two seas and maintain the integrity of the northern
sea, which lies entirely within Kazakhstan. As a result, water
levels have risen, salinity levels have declined, fish production
has increased, and the ecosystem has been partially restored.
Unfortunately, the Soviet legacy still remains in most of Central
Asia, with aging and limited infrastructure for waste management
treatment, limited cooperation at the local level, and severe
pollution of water supplies, Thompson maintained.

GOVERNMENTS UNWILLING TO COOPERATE IN KEY AREAS


6. (U) Bulat Yesekin, a representative of the Environmental Policy
Committee of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
(UNECE),said Central Asia's three main sustainable development
problems are the destruction of the region's water ecosystems,
inefficient water management, and an inadequate potable water
supply. The unwillingness of governments to cooperate leads to a
range of environmental problems such as poverty and migration,
ecosystem degradation, poor health, pollution, and inefficient
management of water and energy. The five Central Asian countries
signed a memorandum on cooperation during a 2003 Kiev ministerial
conference on the environment, committing to saving water basin
ecosystems, rational use of water, access to potable water, and
regional cooperation. Unfortunately, much of this commitment has
not been realized, and now there are only fragmented water
management programs in Central Asia. Yesekin said that some goals
to achieve by 2012 are a regional water management agreement,
analysis of tax policies and the extent to which they stimulate
environmental destruction, trans-boundary projects to save the
Eurasian ecosystem, and targeted assistance for the Aral Sea,
Caspian Sea, and Lake Balkhash (which is Central Asia's second
largest lake, located in southeastern Kazakhstan).

CONFLICTING IDEAS ON WATER IMPEDE INTEGRATION


7. (U) Central Asia Regional Environmental Center (CAREC) Executive
Director Talaybek Makeyev said his organization's mission is to
support regional environmental integration and cooperation in
Central Asia. CAREC seeks to mobilize civil society, including the
private sector, to improve the environment and promote sustainable
development. Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University department head Dr.
Elena Rodina said she wants Kyrgyzstan to regard environmental
security as the basis of sustainable development. Unfortunately, it
is difficult to overcome the institutional problems of integration
of water resources. There is no existing mechanism at present that
can regulate trans-boundary water resources, and there are
conflicting notions of how to treat water. She recommended that all
parties either collectively sign and ratify the U.N. conventions on
water resource management, or have a panel of objective
international experts help draft laws in each country that can help
them eventually move toward cooperation.

BUSINESS WANTS TO PARTICIPATE IN SETTING STANDARDS


8. (U) Kazakhstan Business Association for Sustainable Development
representative Gulsara Edilbayeva wants to increase the role of
business and the private sector in achieving the economic goals of
sustainable development. She said that business needs sustainable
development and environmental protection policies which follow
international standards and are not arbitrary. Emission standards
and associated fines need to have concrete criteria that are
internationally accepted. It is thus important to improve the
environmental indicators used to regulate industry. She said
businesses want to see greater cooperation and discussion among the

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government, NGOs, international organizations, and business
associations.


9. (SBU) NOTE: The government of Kazakhstan has levied heavy
environmental fines against companies in the extractive industries
sector, particularly those developing oil and gas fields.
Tengizchevroil (TCO),for example, was ordered by a court in Atyrau
oblast to pay a $342 million fine in 2007, for alleged violations of
environmental regulations related to TCO's open-air storage of
sulfur. In addition, in 2008, oil companies operating in Kazakhstan
paid more than 14 billion tenge ($93 million) in fines for excessive
gas flaring, including 1.8 billion tenge ($12 million) paid by
Karachaganak Petroleum Operating Company, in which Chevron has a 20
percent stake. The Chinese National Petroleum Company (CNPC),which
owns 60 percent of AktobeMunaiGas, paid a fine of 300 million tenge
(approximately $2 million) in March 2009, for dumping 2,300 tons of
drilling waste near residential sites and flaring 1,200 million
cubic meters of natural gas, well above its permitted quota. END
NOTE.

HOAGLAND