During the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-28) in the UAE, Aziz Abdukhakimov, the Minister of Ecology, Environmental Protection, and Climate Change of the Republic of Uzbekistan, met with the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), Ms. Tatiana Molcean.

For reference, Ms. Tatiana Molcean has twenty years of experience and serves as the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Moldova to the UN, World Trade Organization, and other international organizations in Geneva. She has held her current position since July 2023.

Aziz Abdukhakimov congratulated Ms. Tatiana Molcean on her appointment as the Executive Secretary of UNECE.

"We have established long-term strategic cooperation with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. Today, we have a number of proposals and directions, and we aim to further strengthen our cooperation," shared A. Abdukhakimov.

During the meeting, the Minister noted that Uzbekistan has successfully launched a system for assessing environmental efficiency. Considering the transboundary nature of environmental issues and the fact that each Central Asian country is preparing a national report, he proposed developing a regional document. This report would cover the five Central Asian countries and help raise awareness, facilitate joint decision-making, and strengthen regional cooperation in addressing environmental issues.

Furthermore, Aziz Abdukhakimov emphasized that Uzbekistan will soon become a member of the Aarhus Convention.

"The right of the population to access environmental information is reflected in Article 49 of the new edition of the Constitution of Uzbekistan. This fully corresponds to the Aarhus Convention," said the Minister.

Additionally, it was noted that since 2021, 200 million tree and shrub seedlings are planted annually throughout the country. It was emphasized that it is important to study the experience of implementing the "3-30-300" IEC concept.

For reference, the "3-30-300" concept involves greening cities. According to this concept, residents should be able to see at least 3 trees from their homes, 30% of the territory of each neighborhood should be covered with trees, and a high-quality green area should be visible within a radius of 300 meters.

During the meeting, it was also highlighted that by 2028, the aim is to ensure that at least 60% of solid household waste generated in Uzbekistan is recycled, reduce methane emissions into the atmosphere, and close and process 167 waste landfills in Uzbekistan. New landfills meeting international sanitary requirements will be created on an area of 1000 hectares. The feasibility of integrating the public-private partnership system into the management of protected areas and ecotourism was also recognized.

As a result of the meeting, an agreement was reached to continue cooperation with UNECE in the field of nature conservation and restoration. Aziz Abdukhakimov invited Ms. Tatiana Molcean, to conduct an official presentation event during the 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP14), which will take place in Samarkand on February 12-17, 2024.