CACIC. Integrating Climate Risk Management into Strategic Planning of Central Asian Countries

Today, as part of the Regional Ecological Summit in Astana, a session titled “CACIC. Integrating Climate Risk Management into Strategic Planning of Central Asian Countries” was held, dedicated to developing a systemic approach to climate risk management.

Participants discussed the integration of risk assessment results into public policy, budgetary and investment planning, as well as the development of early warning systems and insurance mechanisms.

The main outcome of the meeting was work on aligning a regional roadmap for climate risk management, which is intended to lay the foundation for the region’s long-term sustainability.

Session moderator Sergey Makarov, Head of the regional program “CRM in Central Asia” at GIZ, emphasized the scale of the challenge.

“Climate risks are already affecting water resources, agriculture, energy, our infrastructure, which in many countries requires modernization, public health, and the resilience of our economy as a whole. Therefore, this is no longer just about the ecological agenda, but about the quality of public governance, regional stability, long-term planning, and overall sustainability of our development”, he noted.

Experts highlighted that Central Asia’s status as one of the fastest-growing regions in the world requires special attention to the security of energy, water, and food systems.

UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction and Head of UNDRR Kamal Kishore proposed expanding the planning horizon by moving toward a comprehensive risk management concept.

“Many countries in this region face extremely high risks of geophysical events, such as earthquakes. In many cases, these shocks interact with climate-related risks: earthquakes can trigger landslides or glacial lake outburst floods. Therefore, my call is to adopt a multi-risk and comprehensive approach to risk management,” the speaker proposed.

In his remarks, he also outlined three key approaches for the region: iterative risk assessment (reviewing data every five years), risk diversification (especially in agriculture), and strengthening day-to-day infrastructure management.