The term “green economy” was first thought up in 1989 in a ground-breaking report for the United Kingdom government by a group of leading environmental economists (David Pearce, Edward Barbier and Anil Markandya) entitled “A Plan for Green Economy”. The report was developed for consultations to the British Government’s on the term of sustainable development. However, this term was not defined in this work, and the essence of green economy was not discovered. In 1991 and 1994, the same authors published follow-ups to the first report entitled “Plan 2: Greening the World Economy” and “Plan 3: Measuring the Effectiveness of Sustainable Development”.
In 2008, the term was revived in the context of discussions about and response to multiple global crises. Amid the financial crisis and global recession concerns, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) championed the idea of “green stimulus packages” and specific areas where large public investment could give impetus to green economy were identified. It inspired some governments to implement green stimulus packages as part of their economic recovery efforts. In October 2008, UNEP launched its Green Economy Initiative to provide analysis and policy support for investments in green and polluting sectors.
As part of this initiative, UNEP collaborated with Green Economy Plan co-author Edward Barbier to produce a report entitled The Global Green New Deal, which was issued in April 2009. This report proposed a combination of policies that would boost the economic recovery and, at the same time, improve the resilience of the global economy.
The Global Green New Deal urged governments to allocate a significant share of funds to green sectors to achieve three goals:
- economic recovery;
- eradication of poverty;
- reduction of carbon emissions and ecosystem degradation.
At the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012, the Kyrgyz Republic expressed its commitment to sustainable development through the promotion of green economy priorities. For our country, such a transition is an urgent need, since the socio-economic development of the country is largely based on the consumption of natural resources.
The intensive use of natural resources certainly makes a significant contribution to economic growth in the short term, but it is important to understand that in the long term this will lead to significant negative consequences: widespread poverty and deterioration in health of the population due to polluted air and poor quality drinking water, lack of food and energy.
There are already alarming trends in the country. The area of agricultural lands recognized as degraded or subject to destruction processes is growing. Land degradation is largely the result of unsustainable agricultural land use, overgrazing, and inefficient irrigation and water management systems. Agriculture is the main consumer of fresh water. Irrigation and agricultural water supply consume about 95% of the total volume of water used. At the same time, the level of water losses during transportation is very high – about 25% of the total volume of water intake. Together, these factors put the country at risk of increasing problems in providing the population with food.
Increased atmospheric air pollution negatively affects human health and ecosystem stability, as well as increases the corrosion of technical infrastructure elements. The problem of atmospheric air pollution is especially acute in the cities of the country. According to expert estimates, more than 87% of the main pollutants enter the atmospheric air from vehicles, the number of which is growing every year. This leads to an increase in public spending on health care, loss of ecosystems and additional economic costs for the maintenance of infrastructure facilities.
The combination of the above factors, the growing risks and threats of depletion of natural resources and environmental pollution, emphasizes the need and relevance of transition of the Kyrgyz Republic to green economy. The development of green economy in the country needs to change the state policy in the direction of stimulating: energy efficiency and energy saving, energy production from renewable sources, improving the efficiency of water and land management in urban and rural areas, ecosystem approach to climate change adaptation, monitoring and accounting ecosystem services. Ultimately, all transformations should be aimed at a positive impact on the quality of human life and the environment.
Decree of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic dated October 31, 2013 No. 221 approved the National Development Strategy of the Kyrgyz Republic for 2018-2040, which includes issues of environment, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Certain climate change issues, such as reduction of carbon emissions, are integrated into the Concept of Green Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic “Kyrgyzstan is a country of green economy”, approved by the Resolution of the Zhogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic dated June 28, 2018 No. 2532-VI and into the Development Program of the Kyrgyz Republic for the period 2018-2022 “Unity. Trust. Creation”, approved by the Decree of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic dated August 30, 2018 No. 413.
The Program for the Development of Green Economy in the Kyrgyz Republic for the period 2019-2023 was approved, within which 7 priority sectors were identified (Energy/Renewable Energy/Energy Efficiency, Agriculture, Transportation/Electricity, Water Supply and Sewerage, Water Resources/Irrigation, Solid Waste Management, Disaster Prevention), through which it is expected to ensure a progressive transition to green development as a matter of priority.
In addition, the following legislative acts have been adopted in the Kyrgyz Republic to accelerate and comprehensively promote the development of the green economy initiative:
- Concept of Green Economy in the Kyrgyz Republic for 2019-2023;
- Green Economy Development Program in the Kyrgyz Republic for 2019-2023;
- Action Plan for Implementation of Green Economy Development Program in the Kyrgyz Republic for 2019-2023;
- Kyrgyz Republic Government Resolution “On Approval of Green Economy Development Program in the Kyrgyz Republic for 2019-2023”;
- Kyrgyz Republic Zhogorku Kenesh Resolution “On Some Aspects of the State of Environment in the Kyrgyz Republic, Prospects for Implementation of Green Economy Principles and Measures to Promote the Image of “Kyrgyzstan – a Country of Green Economy”;
- Kyrgyz Republic Zhogorku Kenesh Resolution “On the Report of Zhogorku Kenesh Deputy, Chairman of the Public Council E.J. Baibakpaev on Activities Performed to Introduce Green Economy Principles in the Kyrgyz Republic”;
- Decree of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic “On Incorporation of the Climate Finance Center of the Kyrgyz Republic”.