Green Finance in Central Asia: Practical Steps and Regional Cooperation
As part of the Astana Finance Days 2025, the AIFC Green Finance Centre (GFC), together with the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), held a workshop “Central Asia: Green Finance in Action. Instruments, Successes, Lessons.”
The event brought together representatives of government bodies, national development institutions, and the business community from Central Asian countries — Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and the Kyrgyz Republic — providing a platform for dialogue on the development of the sustainable finance market in the region.
The main objective of the workshop was to strengthen participants’ professional competencies and exchange practical experience in the implementation of green finance instruments. Discussions focused on reducing borrowing costs, developing national taxonomies, advancing exchange-traded and sovereign mechanisms, as well as leveraging the opportunities provided by international development banks. Special attention was paid to case studies from the region that demonstrated successful approaches to launching and verifying green and social financial instruments.
Welcome remarks were delivered by Ruslan Dalenov, Deputy Chairman of the EDB Management Board, and Dr. Ma Jun, Chairman of the Capacity-building Alliance of Sustainable Investment (CASI) and President of the Institute of Finance and Sustainability (IFS). In his speech, Ruslan Dalenov emphasized that green finance today is not just a global trend but a practical tool that opens new perspectives for sustainable growth. According to him, the transition to a low-carbon economy for Central Asian countries is becoming a source of significant investment, technological progress, and expansion of international cooperation. He noted that the volume of the EDB’s green portfolio has doubled since 2018, reaching $1.9 billion, including the construction of ten solar and three wind power plants in Kazakhstan with a total capacity of 550 MW.
The organization of the workshop was the result of a partnership between the AIFC Green Finance Centre and the EDB Academy. The Academy traditionally develops the competencies of government officials of the Bank’s member countries and borrowers in key areas, including project finance, investment markets, development banking, and sustainable finance.
The AIFC Green Finance Centre, being the only institution in Central Asia and the Caucasus accredited by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) and the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI), presented its approaches to verifying green, social, and sustainability bonds during the event and emphasized the importance of developing regional practices in line with international standards.
Background Information:
The AIFC Green Finance Centre was established on June 1, 2018, to develop and promote green finance in Kazakhstan and the Central Asian region. The Centre provides first-hand support to potential issuers, investors, and market participants in preparing for the issuance of green bonds on the AIFC Exchange.
Its main goal is to promote and advance sustainable finance instruments, as well as to attract investments into environmental and social projects in Kazakhstan and Central Asia as a whole.
The AIFC Green Finance Centre is the leading institution in the field of sustainable finance in Central Asia. Accredited by the Climate Bonds Initiative and the International Capital Market Association, the Centre offers verification and advisory services to foster the development of sustainable finance in the region.
