The regional online seminar "Climate Priorities of Eurasia" has come to an end. It was attended by representatives of local and regional governments, non-profit organizations, academia, experts and leading specialists in the field of climate change.
The event took place on January 26, 2021, as part of the trilateral project of UCLG, Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy and ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability). The main objective of the meeting was to define climate priorities for the Eurasia region, as well as to develop a joint strategy and roadmap that will take into account interests of all stakeholders.
Opening the online meeting, Secretary General of UCLG-Eurasia Rasikh Sagitov highlighted the importance of consolidating joint actions of local governments in the fight against climate change, and also noted the main obstacles faced by cities. “Speaking of challenges, I would like to mention the financial constraints. Adequate funding is necessary to implement ambitious climate projects. I am convinced that together we will develop solutions and provide our cities with the necessary support,” Rasikh Sagitov stressed.
Andrey Vladimirov, Head of the Department of External Relations and Investment Projects Implementation of the Yakutsk District Administration, continued the discussion and presented the profiled UN-Habitat program, in which Yakutsk takes an active part.
Polina Karkina, Climate and Energy Projects Coordinator of the Russian branch of Greenpeace, was remembered by her bright presentation. She told about the project "The Green Course of Russia"(«Зелёный курс России») created to bring together environmentally oriented business associations, social movements and initiatives and develop a set of measures to promote green recovery of the economy affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Polina Karkina also addressed the participants and called on local governments to apply more ambitious measures in decarbonization, thus setting the tone for national governments.
Kanat Abdrakhmanov, Director of the Climate Finance Center of the Kyrgyz Republic, continued the discussion. This center supports and develops climate initiatives and seeks to ensure their inclusion into sustainable development strategies. Kanat Abdrakhmanov told about events that are held in the Kyrgyz Republic and are aimed at combating climate change. Among them are the creation of a climate resilient irrigation infrastructure, the modernization of hydrometeorology in Central Asia, disaster risk reduction in water resources management and others.
Speaking about technical priorities and strategies, Professor of Siberian Federal University Vladimir Gavrikov noted that for Siberian cities, in particular for Krasnoyarsk, today it is important to reduce the amount of fossil fuel used for combustion, to increase green areas, and introduce weather regulation stations.
Elena Tarasova, Head of the Division of Innovative Development and Technological Solutions of the Department of Natural Resources Management and Environmental Protection of the city of Moscow, presented climate initiatives of the capital of Russia. Elena Tarasova stressed that Moscow, as a member of the Urban 20 initiative, shares a commitment to the principles of combating climate change and adapting to natural disasters.
The final presentation was made by Enkhee Sainbuyan, Specialist of the Department of Environment of the Ulaanbaatar Mayor's Office. She delivered a speech about the priority areas of the capital of Mongolia, among which are the preservation of biodiversity, ensuring healthy living conditions for the urban population, support for the responsible and sustainable consumption and production.
Further, the participants of the workshop moderated by Firdaous Oussidhoum, Special Adviser to the Secretary General of UCLG, had an open discussion on the basic principles on which the climate strategy of the region should be built, as well as presented their vision of the process of interaction between all stakeholders.
The participants of the event also included Director of the Institute of Ecology of Siberian Federal University Ruslan Sharafutdinov, Head of the Air Quality Control Department of the Ulaanbaatar Mayor's Office Davaazhargal Gan-Ochir, Deputy Head of the Department of Foreign Trade Analytics and Relations with International Organizations of the Directorate of Foreign Economic and International Relations of the city of Moscow Ekaterina Astakhova, Consultant of the Department of External Relations of the Krasnoyarsk City Administration Roman Teleshun, as well as UCLG-Eurasia Strategic Communications Coordinator Anna Arkhipova and others.
27.01.2021