EBRD and Kazakhstan agree to develop strategy to reach carbon neutrality by 2060

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Kazakhstan have agreed to develop a long-term cooperation strategy to achieve carbon neutrality for the Central Asian nation’s power sector by 2060. The plan is billed as further cementing Kazakhstan's status as a regional renewable energy leader.

The EBRD and Kazakhstan will cooperate, among other things, on the decommissioning of old thermal capacity, on the development of renewable energy and the carbon market and on the enhancement of the electricity grid. The development bank will finance renewable energy projects implemented via an auction mechanism in order to promote competitive pricing and stimulate investment in renewable energy.

The roadmap for the decarbonisation strategy was signed by Kazakhstan’s Minister of Energy Nurlan Nogayev and EBRD president Odile Renaud-Basso during her first visit to Central Asia’s largest country.   

“We are pleased to help Kazakhstan develop its energy sector in line with the global decarbonisation agenda,” the EBRD president said. “Our partnership in the area of sustainable energy began over a decade ago and, based on the country’s achievements to date, Kazakhstan is right on track to achieve the new ambitious target of carbon neutrality.”

“Longstanding cooperation with the EBRD is helping us achieve our development goals in the energy sector,” Kazakhstan’s minister of energy added. “Jointly, we search for innovative solutions to enable the sector’s sustainable development and this is an important foundation for our present and future work. Today’s memorandum will shape our cooperation for years to come.”

To date, the EBRD has invested over €8.13bn in Kazakhstan’s economy.