Climate change on a global scale is inevitable and undeniable. Unfortunately, this process in Central Asia has been progressing over the years. The environmental and climatic situation in the region continues to be a difficult challenge for the Central Asian states, due to the combined influence of both global and regional climatic processes. At the same time, the priority source of such changes is warming caused by an increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere.

Central Asia, located in the middle and high latitudes of the northern hemisphere of the planet, is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change. The average air temperature here has increased by an average of 1.7° C over the century, the variability and intensity of precipitation is increasing in many areas, and there is a tendency to decrease the flow of small and large rivers. At the same time, there is a sharp increase in the frequency and amplitude of fluctuations in extreme flood values and periods of water scarcity.

What is the reason for this situation?

The acceleration and intensification of climate change in the region is largely due to the degradation of the ecosystem of the Aral Sea, which until the 1960s served as a natural climate regulator, leveling out sharp fluctuations in temperature indicators in Central Asia due to the significant volume of water and the area of the water surface. The air masses coming mainly from the western direction over the territory of the Aral Sea were heated in winter and cooled in summer. Such intensive processes led to the fact that moisture circulating with air masses fell out in the form of precipitation over mountain ranges in the autumn-winter period, replenishing the snow and ice cover. The ecological disaster of the Aral Sea caused significant negative changes in this circulation system, disrupting the distribution of moisture in the region. 

The degradation of the Aral Sea ecosystem and the emergence of new areas of desertification are a catalyst for accelerating the warming process in the region. The climate in Uzbekistan and Central Asia as a whole is getting drier and hotter every year, the number of dust storms of significant intensity is increasing in summer and snow drifts in the mountains are decreasing in winter. This creates challenges for the development of certain sectors of the economy (agriculture and water-intensive industries) and generates climate migration in the region.

What measures are being taken in our country?

Uzbekistan is implementing consistent measures aimed at mitigating the processes of further deterioration of the situation. In particular, as a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement, the republic implements relevant national plans and projects. 

In Uzbekistan, the legal framework in the field of environmental protection is provided by more than 30 laws and about 280 regulatory legal acts. Climate change issues are being integrated into national strategies and programmes. The Strategy for the transition to a "green" economy for the period 2019-2030 has been approved, the important tasks of which are to increase the energy efficiency of the economy and rational consumption of natural resources. Priority attention to issues of water conservation and environmental protection, increasing the area of green spaces in the country, creating green belts around large cities to improve the environmental situation, land reclamation and combating desertification is also given in the Strategy "Uzbekistan - 2030".

Recently, the expert community has often heard the opinion that outdated technologies and environmentally harmful industries, inefficient wastewater treatment plants and the use of large amounts of hydrocarbon fuels bear significant responsibility for the difficult environmental situation in Central Asia. For example, a large number of cars with an internal combustion engine leads to a deterioration of the environmental situation in cities, which causes fair complaints from residents. Indeed, it is so.

The structure of vehicles used in the republic is dominated by automobile, the total number of which is more than 4.5 million units. Despite its relative efficiency and economy, motor transport is the second largest consumer of energy resources and, along with the industrial sector, is one of the main environmental pollutants. In general, the share of emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere from vehicles currently reaches 63 percent in the country, and in large cities such as Tashkent exceeds 90 percent.

At the same time, the annual volume of pollutant emissions due to the use of gasoline and diesel fuel in motor vehicles is more than 1.5 million tons.

Due to the rapid growth of construction of various facilities throughout the country and an abnormal increase in temperature, there is a noticeable deterioration of the environment, especially in large and industrialized cities.

In these circumstances, undoubtedly, the way out of the situation is the transition to the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the principles and values of the green economy. In practical terms, this means switching the economy and the transport sector to new generation fuels and technologies, as well as improving the quality of monitoring of harmful emissions situations.

In Uzbekistan, this process is already actively underway both on the part of society and the state, which supports businesses and citizens in the transition to new technologies. An example is the exemption of imports of electric vehicles from customs duties, excise tax and transport charges. You only need to pay VAT in the amount of 12 percent of the total customs value. 

This has led to a rapid increase in the number of imported electric vehicles and their popularization in the country. Today, there are already more than 31 thousand electric vehicles operating in Uzbekistan. By decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated October 30, 2019, from January 1, 2022, the import of gasoline and diesel vehicles that do not meet the environmental requirements of Euro-4 is prohibited.

There are active changes in the field of public transport in the largest cities of Uzbekistan towards the widespread introduction of electric buses. In 2023, China purchased 300 electric buses and 700 buses powered by liquefied gas for Tashkent. 350 more electric buses will be purchased for Samarkand.

Moreover, over the past two years, 3148.2 km of railways have been electrified, and diesel locomotives have been replaced with electric locomotives.

In our opinion, the transition to hydrogen fuel for internal combustion engines and hydrogen energy as a promising direction of the Fourth Industrial Revolution contains great potential for improving the environmental situation in Uzbekistan.

The superiority of hydrogen energy

The advantages of hydrogen as a fuel are related not only to the fact that its combustion produces environmentally friendly water vapor. Compared with organic fuel, it has a large energy reserve: when burning one ton of hydrogen, the same amount of heat is released as when burning 3.5 tons of organic fuel. If we switch to hydrogen energy, some emissions (nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide) will decrease significantly, and some (sulfur dioxide and particulate matter) will not be at all. 

Conditions have been created at the legislative level in Uzbekistan for the further development of a system for monitoring the state of atmospheric air pollution, which allows obtaining information online, as well as for the development of renewable energy.

As you know, energy is the main artery not only of the economy, but also of the sustainable development of any state. In the context of depletion of world hydrocarbon reserves, aggravation of global environmental problems, the development of alternative energy with the expansion of the use of renewable energy sources is becoming increasingly important. The introduction and application of renewable energy in the world is becoming an unconditional factor of innovative development. This leads, in particular, to the formation of a new technological base for generating electricity and heat, increases the energy efficiency of the electric power industry, creates jobs, improves the quality of life of people, environmental conditions, and reduces the threat of man-made disasters. 

In this regard, in the developed economic development strategies, many leading countries set the goal of achieving by 2030 the share of renewable energy in the total volume of electricity generated to 40 percent. 

Oil and gas account for 85 percent of Uzbekistan's primary fuel and energy resources. At the same time, the factor of resource limitations of hydrocarbon energy sources, the scale and rate of their depletion encourage us to take the necessary measures to join the leading countries developing alternative energy. The introduction of renewable energy is one of the priorities in the transition of the country's economy to innovative tracks and environmentally friendly technologies. 

According to expert estimates, the renewable energy potential in our country is equivalent to 51 billion tons of oil. The technologies available today make it possible to obtain energy equivalent to 179 million tons of oil, which is 2.5 times the amount of fuel used in the republic, as well as to prevent emissions of 447 million tons of carbon dioxide, sulfur compounds, nitrogen oxide and other pollutants. 

In 2019, Uzbekistan adopted the Law "On the use of renewable energy sources", and in the Strategy "Uzbekistan - 2030" already mentioned by us, ambitious tasks were set: commissioning renewable energy facilities with a total capacity of 27 thousand MW and bringing the share of renewable energy in the total volume of electricity generated to 40 percent. This will save 25 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually and reduce emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere by 34 million tons.