Green Financing to Promote Sustainable Development in Central Asia

Abstract

The green economy can easily be called the latest fashion in global politics. Most countries, to one degree or another, strive to build it at home. The so-called green economy must replace the paradigm of a consumer society. Its peculiarity is respect for the environment and rational use of resources. Central Asia is home to the Belt and Road Initiative. In 2013, the concept of the “Silk Road Economic Belt” proposed by President Xi Jinping in Kazakhstan went from a “spark of stars” to a “steppe fire.” The year 2022 marks the 30^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan). China’s Central Asian relations have entered a new era of sustainable and high-quality development. As emphasized in the “Joint Statement” on the occasion of the 30^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Central Asia, China and the five Central Asian countries should actively expand cooperation in the fields of green energy, green technologies, and digital finance. As an emerging economy connecting Eurasia and the key region of the Belt and Road Initiative, Central Asia is of great importance for accelerating low-carbon transformation and development of the global economy. It is necessary to develop green finance in Central Asia, where 80% of all greenhouse gas emissions come from the production and consumption of fossil energy. The intensity of carbon dioxide emissions in Central Asia is generally higher than in OECD countries. In recent years, excessive greenhouse gas emissions have led to frequent extreme weather conditions and natural disasters (e.g., heat and drought, soil degradation, melting icebergs in Central Asia, declining sea levels in the Aral Sea, and loss of biodiversity).