On September 25 and October 1, 2020, in Cholpon-Ata, Issyk-Kul and Talas, Aarhus Center in Bishkek, with the support of the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek, held seminars on the topic “Paris Agreement on the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and Nationally Determined Contributions of the Kyrgyz Republic. Application of the Aarhus Convention to inform civil society on climate change problems ”. These events were carried out in conjunction with the UNDP small grants program to inform civil society, employees of government organizations, environmental services, educational institutions and NGOs in the regions. The objectives of the event were:

1. Raising public awareness of the Paris Agreement (PC) on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCI) and the national contributions of Kyrgyzstan, as well as the country’s climate-relevant indicators.
2. Informing government agencies about public involvement in the discussion and development of proposals for the Nationally Determined Contributions of the Kyrgyz Republic (NDC).
3. Collecting proposals for updating the NDC to achieve the objectives of the PS.

In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, this event was carried out with all sanitary standards that were approved by the Republican Headquarters for the Prevention of the Disease.

The main speakers of the workshop were:

– A. Nurbekov – the head of the Aarhus Center, who made a presentation on the activities carried out within the framework of the Strategy for the Activities of the Aarhus Centers of the Kyrgyz Republic and planned activities for 2020, taking into account the introduction of quarantine measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus “Covid 19” diseases. He also informed those present about the start of the implementation of the UNDP small grants project “Informing and involving the civil sector in the NDC process to achieve the expected results” and spoke about the goals and objectives of this project.

– V. Grebnev – an expert of the Aarhus Center on climate change and the application of the Framework Convention on Climate Change, who made a presentation on the topic “Climate Policy of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Paris Agreement” to the participants of the seminar. In it, he spoke about the policy of Kyrgyzstan to join the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, about the National Policy of Kyrgyzstan on the development of the Development Strategy until 2040 and the Development Program of the Kyrgyz Republic “Unity, Trust, Creation”. In his presentation, he presented a mechanism for coordinating climate change issues and the green economy of the Kyrgyz Republic, how consultation issues are carried out on the development of sectoral programs and the development of priority areas for adaptation to climate change, which government agencies will implement these processes.

– A. Temirbekov – an expert of the Aarhus Center on climate change and the application of the Framework Convention on Climate Change, who made 2 presentations on the topics “The Paris Agreement and the Nationally Determined Contributions of Kyrgyzstan (NDC)” and “Measures to Achieve the NDC Goals to the Paris Agreement “. He told the participants what NDCs are, sections and methodologies for collecting information on adaptation, information on mitigation, goals, timing and contributions for mitigation, presented information on the methodology of emission processes, activities to update NDCs in the Kyrgyz Republic. In the second presentation, he gave information about the 4th inventory of greenhouse gases in the Kyrgyz Republic, the results of the impact of inventory data, what adaptation measures need to be implemented to improve the environment.

Then there were presentations by other participants and experts to discuss the presented material. In particular, expert K. Musabayeva drew attention to the need to accelerate the process of creating a working commission to review NDCs for future development of recommendations. If this process is delayed, we will not be able to prepare our proposals on time on time.

Another expert T. Momunbekova drew the attention of those present about the need to involve civil society as much as possible in providing recommendations on NDCs. This will provide an opportunity to get as many opinions and rational suggestions as possible.

The views on the presentations and proposed proposals from the experts at both round tables were well received. Their speeches raised the issue of delivering information to remote areas, so that people who find themselves at a distance due to the coronavirus take part in this process.