BEIJING, September 22. /Dunyo IA/. An article titled "Uzbekistan and UNEP: Advancing Effective Environmental Projects" has been published in the Chinese journal "Psearcher", reports Dunyo IA correspondent.

Article highlights that Uzbekistan has prioritized addressing environmental challenges, demonstrating significant leadership within the international community and successfully joining numerous global environmental organizations.

According to the publication, since becoming a member of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1992, Uzbekistan has acceded to nine international environmental conventions and organizations administered by UNEP, including the Convention on Biological Diversity (1992), the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES, 1973), the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS, 1979), the Agreement on the Conservation of African and European Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA, 1995), the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (1989), the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (2001), the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (1985), the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (1987), and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES, 2012).

"Several collaborative projects with UNEP are currently underway, including an institutional development project to strengthen the implementation capacity of international chemicals conventions (the Basel, Stockholm, and Rotterdam conventions) and support Uzbekistan's accession to the Rotterdam and Minamata conventions. This project, with a budget of US$250,000, includes digitizing chemical inventories and establishing an information resource center within the Ministry of Ecology and Environment", - as stated by the author.

In addition, comprehensive application documents are being prepared for a $25 million investment project to improve building and urban energy efficiency, which has been approved by the Mitigation Action Fund (MAF).

"The automated air pollution monitoring project, supported by the Zamin International Public Foundation in partnership with UNEP and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment's Hydrometeorology Department, plans to deploy 63 monitoring stations nationwide and establish a central analysis center. Furthermore, under the "Central Asia Environmental Monitoring Data Collection and Technology Transfer" project, the Uzbek Ministry of Ecology's Research Institute, UNEP, and the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences jointly established a $2 million Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Center to promote the integrated application of GIS technology in environmental monitoring",- as stated in the article.