Crossroads Asia | Environment | Central Asia

Setting Realistic Expectations for Kazakhstan’s Regional Ecological Summit

The Regional Ecological Summit could kickstart a wider climate activism campaign in the greater Central Asian region, or it could just be a short-term, pro-green mirage.

Kazakhstan will host the Regional Ecological Summit 2026 (RES-2026) from April 22-24. From a logistical point of view, the summit will invariably be a success as Astana has repeatedly demonstrated that it can host high-profile events. The real question is whether meetings involving government leaders, senior officials, industry and business leaders, and representatives from international organizations and civil society will yield lasting solutions to Central Asia’s pressing environmental threats. 

Good intentions, optimistic speeches, and a good photo op are not enough to save Central Asia’s environment and ensure the future and safety of regional populations.

The first-ever Regional Ecological Summit (RES) will take place in Astana, with several regional leaders in attendance, including the presidents of the five Central Asian countries, plus Armenia, and Mongolia, as well as the prime minister of Azerbaijan.

Many conferences and panels will take place at the summit and on its sidelines, including a summit of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS). According to the summit’s website, other panels will address issues like a climate investment, global climate cooperation, mountains and sustainable development, and forest belts and green barriers. There will also be a meeting of the ministers of environmental, climate and ecological affairs from the Organization of Turkic States.

The goal of the RES-2026 is to serve as a “regional platform for dialogue and solidarity” by promoting cooperation, raising awareness of priority environmental issues, identifying practical solutions, and shaping action plans. 

It is unclear if Astana plans to make the RES a regular initiative. The aftermath of the summit will demonstrate if it can serve as an effective pro-environment mechanism in a region where other organizations and mechanisms already exist aimed at environmental issues, like IFAS, the Central Asia Climate Change Conference, the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination (ICWC) of Central Asia, and the Tajikistan-led Dushanbe Water Process.

Properly explaining and analyzing each environmental threat that the five Central Asian countries and their Eurasian regional neighbors face would require far more space than this commentary has. Suffice to say, the five Central Asian states face a variety of environmental challenges. 

Water security arguably poses the gravest threat due to droughts, the human-caused loss of the Aral Sea, the drying of the northern shores of the Caspian Sea (affecting Kazakhstan and Russia), and the Taliban-constructed Qosh Tepa Canal, which will divert the flow of the Amu Darya, potentially reducing water access for neighboring states.

Air pollution is another crisis, given the region’s ongoing reliance on coal to power industry; cities like Tashkent have particularly high levels of air pollution. The 2025 World Air Quality Report ranked Tajikistan third-worst in the world for air quality after Pakistan and Bangladesh. The other Central Asian countries did not score much better. Two other regional countries were in the top 20: Uzbekistan (10) and Kyrgyzstan (19), while Kazakhstan scored the best (or at least not as bad, at number 27). Turkmenistan was absent due to a lack of available data, which in itself is not surprising, as Ashgabat is not keen on transparency.

There are also sandstorms, which are exacerbated by deforestation. The loss of the Aral Sea means more dry land is at the mercy of winds that can carry sand and salt residue to populated areas. Moreover, the Soviet nuclear tests at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in Kazakhstan will continue to affect the public health of........

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