Local adaptation initiatives

The scarcity of public funds needed to finance urgent adaptation measures in Kyr-gyzstan is, to a certain extent, made up for by the proactive attitude of local non-gov-ernmental organizations (NGOs) which receive international grants for small, yet

107 Third National Communication, supra note 12.

108 Climate change adaptation programme and action plan for the ‘Forests And Biodiversity’ Sector for 2015–2017. Approved by an Order of the State Agency of Environment Protection and Forestry under the Kyrgyz Republic Government of 17 April 2015, N 01-9/110.

109 Climate Change Adaptation Priorities, supra note 71.

110 Ibid.

111 Ibid.

very important, projects that help improve the resilience of local communities to the changing climate, improve their standard of living, and reduce conflicts caused by resource shortages. Donor organizations include the GEF, the Department of Ener-gy and Climate Change of Great Britain,¹¹² the Norwegian Society for the Conser-vation of Nature/Friends of Earth Norway¹¹³ supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs,¹¹⁴ the World Wildlife Fund (WWF),¹¹⁵ and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).¹¹⁶

4 Conclusions

The need for climate change adaptation has received significant attention in Kyr-gyzstan in recent years. The issue is strongly supported at the national level. Ad-aptation measures are included in the country’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) and in the Third National Communication under the UN-FCCC. National strategies and action plans have been developed and approved for the following sectors: emergency situations; forest and biodiversity; agriculture and water management; human health; and energy. Land, Water, and Forest Codes have been amended and supplemented so as to ensure the implementation of effective adaptation measures. In addition, local adaptation initiatives are being actively de-veloped and enjoy support from the government, on the one hand, and from inter-national organizations, on the other.

However, despite the very well realized need for adaptation and the availability of detailed and elaborate plans, implementation is hampered by the lack of funds. If acting on its own, Kyrgyzstan can implement only a negligible part of the required measures, for it is a small and relatively weak developing country with a mere USD 1,269 per capita income.¹¹⁷ By way of an illustration: the resources needed to pre-vent the projected damage in the most vulnerable sectors in Kyrgyzstan are assessed at USD 1,937.5 million (USD 2005), while the country only had USD 213.4 mil-lion (USD 2005) domestic costs allocated for December 2015.¹¹⁸

Insufficient adaptation measures in Kyrgyzstan will adversely affect the countries located downstream in the Syrdaria basin. Increased water intake from the Syrdaria River may, inter alia, exacerbate the Aral crisis. Today, the Syrdaria reaches as far

112 See <https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-energy-climate-change>.

113 See <http://naturvernforbundet.no/?lang=en_GB>.

114 Ilia Domashov et al, (eds), ‘Climate Change: Adaptation Case Studies at the Community Level’ (2012) 52. Available (in Russian) at <http://www.undp.org/content/dam/kyrgyzstan/Publications/env-energy/

UNDP_kg_Climate_Change_Adaptation_Book_RUS_small.pdf> (visited on 25 July 2016).

115 See <http://www.worldwildlife.org/>.

116 See <https://www.usaid.gov/>.

117 The World Bank, ‘GDP per capita (current US$)’, availale at <http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/

NY.GDP.PCAP.CD> (visited in April 2016).

118 The Kyrgyz Republic Intended Nationally Determined Contribution, available at <http://www4.un-fccc.int/submissions/INDC/Published%20Documents/Kyrgyzstan/1/Kyrgyzstan%20INDC%20_

ENG_%20final.pdf> (visited 22 December 2016).

as the Small Aral area, but a temperature increase, if not compensated by escalated precipitation, is expected to result in an increase in agricultural and residential water uptake. The International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea¹¹⁹ lacks adequate resources to implement the entire set of adaptation measures that have been identified as necessary because the material resources of the Central Asian developing states are insufficient. The Fund plays an important role as a platform for planning interna-tional cooperation between the countries of the basin and for the development of agreements regarding the fair, shared use of water resources. Given the increasing water deficit, the Fund is the key platform to settle disputes and prevent conflicts.

All the legislation necessary to operationalize international financing possibilities is in place at the national level and meets the requirements of international finance institutions. The development of a national adaptation plan (NAP)¹²⁰ is also under way. Therefore, it is recommended that financial institutions pay attention to Kyr-gyzstan. The receipt of international adaptation aid will benefit not only Kyrgyzstan itself, but all the countries in the basin of the Syrdaria, which is a key water artery in Central Asia.

Kyrgyzstan as a Party is in a special situation in the UNFCCC context. It has not joined any negotiation blocks, such as the Group of 77 and China. In spite of oth-er Central Asian countries (Tajikistan and Turkmenistan) being memboth-ers of this Group, the Kyrgyz Republic has no plans to enter. Usually, Kyrgyzstan cooperates with other countries of the Eurasian Economic Union, in particular Russia and Ka-zakhstan, but in contrast to them it is a poor developing country and much more vulnerable to climate change.

For several years, the UN Environment Programme collaborated with WWF to im-plement a project ‘Capacity building and awareness raising in Central Asia towards contributing to a new global climate agreement under UNFCCC’, the purpose of which was to provide advisory and analytical support to Central Asian countries, including Kyrgyzstan, in the framework of climate negotiations and preparation for the conference in Paris. The project included analysis of the UNFCCC documents and negotiation processes, positions of Parties, explanation of climate change’s ef-fects and prognosis of the IPCC 5^th Assessment Report, discussions on possible ways to get international support, etc. Documents were prepared and updated on a regu-lar basis before and after any of the UNFCCC’s sessions. As a result, the Kyrgyz del-egation had a clear understanding of the climate negotiation stage and possible ben-efits and losses. The Kyrgyz Republic has prepared a high quality INDC document,

119 See <http://ec-ifas.waterunites-ca.org/about/6-about-ec-ifas.html>.

120 ‘The national adaptation plan (NAP) process was established under the  Cancun Adaptation Frame-work (CAF). It enables Parties to formulate and implement national adaptation plans (NAPs) as a means of identifying medium- and long-term adaptation needs and developing and implementing strategies and programmes to address those needs. It is a continuous, progressive and iterative process which follows a country-driven, gender-sensitive, participatory and fully transparent approach.’ See at <http://unfccc.int/

adaptation/workstreams/national_adaptation_plans/items/6057.php> (visited on 27 July 2016).

which was decent and realistic in assessing the situation in the country, necessary adaptation measures and required external support. The Paris Agreement gives an opportunity for Kyrgyzstan to realize the NAP with the assistance of international support, provided that the country works actively with potential donors.

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