Country project and the Era of Decarbonization
In order for the world around us to change, we need to change ourselves. This is one of the key objectives of the Concept for the Development of Ecological Culture "Taza Kazakhstan", adopted by the Government at the end of October. Kazinform News Agency invites readers to learn more about the main essence of the voluminous document.
Preparing for the era of decarbonization
The formation of "eco-patriotism" is only one of the few meanings laid down in the Concept of Development of Ecological Culture. The initiative goes beyond cleanliness in cities and villages, focusing on evolving society and renewing the nation's cultural code.
As the Head of State noted at the third meeting of the National Kurultai:
“It is important that constructive attitudes take root in society and that archaic stereotypes and destructive behavior patterns become a thing of the past.”
The Taza Kazakhstan project emerged in response to a natural disaster—spring floods of unprecedented severity. It is especially important that, amid the social stress, this creative message resonated: the battle against the "big water" isn't over yet, but we are already working to restore order in the country.
The campaign gained momentum. Over the course of several months, about 3 million people took part in it. More than one million tons of garbage were collected, and about 2.5 million green spaces were planted.
The Concept describes the mechanisms for developing a culture of ecological thinking, conscious consumption, resource conservation, and a culture of doing business. This is a transformative national project designed to prepare society for the era of decarbonization.
Changing habits
One of the key sections in the Concept focuses on analyzing the current situation. It highlights established practices across various areas, with ecological thinking taking center stage.
The Kazakhstan Institute of Public Development conducted a sociological study to assess public perceptions of environmental issues, including the relevance of ecology, recycling of raw materials, and waste management among Kazakhstanis.
The survey revealed that 82.3% of respondents found these topics to be "very relevant" or "somewhat relevant" to them. The highest level of interest came from the Aktobe (96.4%) and Kostanay (95.7%) regions, while the Akmola region showed the lowest level of interest at 38.5%.
While interest in this topic is generally high, the adoption of environmental habits is less encouraging. Only 25.3% of the population sorts their garbage, just 21.8% use reusable bags when shopping, and only 57.1% make an effort to conserve water and electricity.
Interestingly, younger people (aged 18–28) tend to show less environmental awareness overall, except when it comes to sorting garbage, where their participation is slightly higher than other age groups at 27.5%.
Environmental awareness doesn’t develop on its own. It’s hard to expect people to adopt eco-friendly habits without the necessary infrastructure. An analysis reveals that, as of 2023, out of 207 cities and districts in the country, only 142 have implemented separate waste collection at various stages, and just 130 have introduced waste sorting.
As a result, the share of waste recycling and sorting is also low, although overall there is a positive trend. In the period from 2018 to 2023, waste recycling and sorting in Kazakhstan increased from 11.5% to 24% (in European countries, the average level is about 50%, in Japan - more than 40%, in South Korea - 60%).
The Concept also reflects the types of anthropogenic load on our cities and villages, as well as issues of resource conservation.
As the analysis shows, in terms of primary energy consumption, we are the undisputed leaders in the CIS. The level of water consumption has also increased, given that the predicted water deficit in Kazakhstan in the next five years may be 15%.
The environmental impact of motor vehicles continues to rise. In 2023, the majority of registered vehicles were over 20 years old.
The data highlights a lack of environmental responsibility among businesses. In 2023, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources carried out 652 inspections to monitor compliance with environmental laws. Over 2,000 administrative fines were issued, totaling 322.9 billion tenge, with 11.3 billion tenge successfully collected. A significant portion of the fines were related to excessive and unauthorized emissions.
The solution
The availability of utilities, such as tap water being used for washing cars and watering gardens, hinders the development of environmentally responsible behavior. Mechanisms are needed to encourage the adoption of sustainable habits. The Concept notes that "low utility tariffs do not encourage conservation or the careful use of natural resources."
The same applies to large businesses: “low levels of fees for negative impact on the environment and fines for violating environmental legislation do not encourage enterprises to improve their environmental performance indicators by implementing the best available techniques.”
Motivational mechanisms and incentives are needed to encourage environmentally responsible behavior. To address this, the Government has approved a mechanism for preferential financing of waste management projects. Plans include the implementation of 21 waste sorting and recycling initiatives.
Thus, the goal is to increase the share of recycled municipal waste to 38% by 2029.
There are many initiatives in the field of secondary and higher education to increase the environmental awareness of schoolchildren and students, and to train environmental specialists.
Additionally, plans include increasing the number of cameras to monitor environmental violations.
In the public utilities sector, water supply and sanitation systems will be digitalized and automated, along with the installation of metering devices.
Measures will be developed to support companies and citizens actively adopting sustainable consumption and production practices, as well as to encourage enterprises to publish reports on resource efficiency (ESG).
The implementation of the nationwide environmental initiative "Taza Kazakhstan" should become one of the markers in assessing the activities of akims. Each region will develop a corresponding plan for the implementation of the Concept.
The document includes 60 different instructions. In addition to local executive bodies, 12 ministries, higher and postgraduate education organizations, the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs and the Agency for Civil Service Affairs will work on its implementation.
