In April 2026, the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev took part in such key events in Astana as the Regional Environmental Summit under the motto “A Shared Vision of a Sustainable Future” and the meeting of the Council of Heads of State – founders of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS). The outcomes of these forums demonstrated a fundamentally new level of Uzbekistan’s environmental positioning on the regional stage.

The relevance is undeniable, which is confirmed by the scale of the common threat. Temperatures in Central Asia are rising twice as fast as the global average, nearly one third of glaciers have already been lost, and more than 80 million hectares of land have undergone degradation. Against this background, Uzbekistan proposed such concrete initiatives as the creation of an interstate consortium “Clean Air of Central Asia”, the establishment of a “Green Trade Corridor” with preferential customs regimes for eco goods, a unified investment portfolio of climate projects, the development of the “Red Book of Central Asia”, as well as the holding of the World Youth Climate Forum in Uzbekistan in 2027.

Particular attention should be paid to the fact that President Mirziyoyev was officially elected President of IFAS for the period 2027-2029. This is a real responsibility for the fate of millions of people whose lives are inextricably linked with the Aral Sea basin. The priorities of the upcoming chairmanship include the modernization of the Fund’s structure, the introduction of mechanisms for assessing the effectiveness of its programs, and the expansion of financing instruments through the platform of the UN Multi Partner Trust Fund.

The achievements presented in Astana are supported by measurable results. Thus, water saving technologies have covered 60% of Uzbekistan’s irrigated lands, annual water savings have exceeded 10 billion cubic meters, within the framework of the “Yashil makon” project about one billion trees have been planted, and the commitments under the Paris Agreement on emission reduction have been fulfilled ahead of schedule. In general, the Astana Summit clearly demonstrated that Uzbekistan is consistently translating environmental declarations into concrete political and technological solutions.

* The Institute for Advanced International Studies (IAIS) does not take institutional positions on any issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IAIS.