Yerevan, Armenia
Welcoming the participants of the Summit, the Head of State thanked Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan for the warm hospitality and the high standard of organization of the Leaders’ Summit ahead of the UN Biodiversity Conference.
In his address, the President reminded of the need to coordinate international efforts and uphold a shared responsibility to preserve nature for future generations.
“We all gathered here to foster broad international cooperation for safeguarding our shared natural heritage. It is about our common responsibility toward future generations that will have to face formidable challenges and dangers. It also about survival of our civilization because biodiversity sustains human well-being, economic resilience and long-term security. Healthy ecosystems underpin food production, protect water resources and support the livelihoods of millions of people. However, desertification and water scarcity, to name a few, pose a serious threat to the delicate balance between nature and human beings. For millions of people shortage of water or degraded land have already become a daily real life. The most difficult consequence is that this process extends beyond borders, undermine sustainable development and threaten global stability. Environmental agenda with the right decisions and practical measures must prevail political differences. We all need international cooperation which should be really friendly, unbiased and, of course, lead to tangible results,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stated.
President: “The Taza Kazakhstan campaign is becoming a nationwide ideology”
According to the Head of State, Kazakhstan, the world’s ninth largest country by area, is home to extraordinary biodiversity across its vast territory.
“Preserving this heritage is both the national duty and international responsibility. This commitment is clearly reflected in our new Constitution. For the first time in our history, the Constitution explicitly enshrines the promotion of environmental culture as a fundamental principle of our statehood. Now citizens are obliged to preserve nature and treat its resources with due care. Protection of healthy environment for all citizens is one of major functions of our state. We are convinced that the preservation of our natural heritage must go hand in hand with economic progress. Our nationwide Taza Kazakhstan or Clean Kazakhstan campaign puts these values into practice. I am delighted to see that this movement goes beyond environmental cleanliness, gains upperhand in mindsets and in the daily behavior of our citizens and is becoming national ideology of our people,” the President said.
Head of State highlights Kazakhstan’s efforts to conserve and restore populations of rare animal species
As Kassym-Jomart Tokayev noted, Kazakhstan has already achieved significant results in biodiversity conservation. One of the country’s major accomplishments has been the recovery of the saiga antelope population.
“This ancient animal survived the last Ice Age and remains very essential to the natural balance of our steppes. Today Kazakhstan is home to around 98 percent of the world’s saiga population. In 2003, just 21,000 species remained in our country. By the spring of this year, their numbers had reached an estimated 4.7 million. The snow leopard – a proud symbol of our mountain heritage is also making an encouraging recovery. Around 70 percent of its range in our country are within protected areas. Reliable and sustained protection and systematic scientific monitoring have helped its population grow from critically low levels of 90s last century to nearly 190 animals today. Behind all these recoveries are years of hard and dedicated, determined work by the authorities, scientists and international partners,” the Head of State informed.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev expressed his gratitude to the Russian Federation and its President, as well as the United Nations Development Programme, the World Wild Fund, and other international partners, including NGOs, for their assistance in restoring the population of the Turan tiger. He emphasized that in July this year, a tiger was released into the wild for the first time in 70 years, marking a milestone for Kazakhstan.
The Head of State also noted that efforts are underway, in cooperation with Czech, German and Hungarian partners, to reintroduce the Przewalski’s horse to Kazakhstan.
The President also highlighted the need to protect the Caspian Sea and its unique biodiversity.
“At the recent first Caspian Environmental Summit in Turkmenistan, I called for urgent, coordinated action to prevent fatal damage to this fragile ecosystem. The future of Caspian seals causes a particular concern. Its population has fallen from one million to 270,000 over the past century. In Kazakhstan, the Caspian seal has been officially listed as a rare and endangered animal. We urge all five littoral states and international community to increase efforts to protect these species. The tragedy of the Aral Sea is a stark reminder of the devastating cost of reckless exploitation of nature and we must not allow the Caspian Sea to suffer the same fate,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev emphasized.
The Head of State announced Kazakhstan’s initiative to establish an International Fund for the Protection of Rare Species and Biodiversity, urging foreign partners to join this initiative.
“This initiative is complemented by our National Biodiversity 10-years program, which guides habitat restoration, species safeguarding and the expansion of protected areas. We are also launching the National Bank of Genetic Biodiversity. Kazakhstan’s engagement also extends across the region. This April Astana hosted the UN Regional Ecological Summit, which adopted the Astana Declaration on Environmental Solidarity in Central Asia. With the support of all five littoral states, Kazakhstan is spearheading an Interstate Program for the Conservation of the Caspian Sea’s Water Resources,” the President noted.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev then outlined several priority areas for joint action. He identified water resource management as one of the areas requiring closer coordination.
“Last year Kazakhstan proposed to establish International Water Organization within the United Nations system. And we believe that this initiative may become a joint one representing Central Asian states with the door open for all countries to get in. Our aim is to strengthen water security and protect the ecosystems that depend on healthy rivers, lakes and wetlands,” he said.
The President of Kazakhstan called for greater use of technological advances to make biodiversity conservation efforts more effective.
“Today effective cooperation is possible if based on digital technologies and artificial or super intelligence that can transform the way we monitor ecosystems, manage natural resources and predict environmental threats. Kazakhstan has made AI and digital transformation a national priority. We offer the International Artificial Intelligence Center in Astana as a platform for joint research, biodiversity data analysis, early warning systems and specialist training,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed.
In conclusion, the Head of State proposed establishing a branch office of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Almaty. According to him, the office could support Central Asian countries in implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, facilitate scientific exchange and help develop joint conservation projects.
The COP17 Summit also featured addresses by Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, President of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov, Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Kobakhidze, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany, President of Zanzibar Hussein Ali Mwinyi and other officials.
