ANTALYA, November 13. /Dunyo IA/.   Chizuru Aoki, Head the GEF Division of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and Funds, commented to Dunyo IA on the outcomes of the participation of the President of Uzbekistan in the UN World Leaders Climate Action Summit held on November 10–11^th in the city of Antalya:

– We are very pleased with our cooperation with Uzbekistan. It is a very important country for the Global Environment Facility. Uzbekistan hosted the GEF Assembly, which is held once every four years and brings together all participating countries of the Fund's partnership. In addition, Uzbekistan contributes to the activities of the GEF; and we highly value our cooperation.

One of the ongoing initiatives is aimed at addressing Uzbekistan's key climate challenges, including reducing emissions, improving the water resources situation, and enhancing the resilience of land used by smallholder farmers. To this end, the mobilization of additional financing and engagement with local financial intermediaries, the EBRD and other international partners are envisaged.

We welcome the opportunity to support the Government of Uzbekistan and its partners within the framework of this initiative by providing grant financing and facilitating the mobilization of additional resources for promising projects. In his initiatives, President of Uzbekistan pays special attention to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the rational use of water resources, sustainable land management, and supporting farmers. In this context, partnership and cooperation between neighbouring countries are of particular importance. Central Asia faces shared environmental priorities and similar economic challenges.

Opportunity for the states of the region to work together on the green agenda is a highly promising strategic initiative. We also discussed the prospects for pooling the efforts of multilateral climate funds to support the initiatives of the President of Uzbekistan, as well as engagement with neighbouring states. The primary objective is to mobilize additional resources for the implementation of the region's climate and environmental priorities.