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US Embassy 

Impact of air quality on human health

Kazakhstan is currently in a transitional phase from authoritarianism to liberalization. The new head of state Tokayev has repeatedly stated the need for political reforms. However, the state of the environment is alarming. Neither the authorities nor the majority of the population have environmental awareness, and nature conservation is not only not a priority, but is on the periphery of the public agenda.

However, in 2019, the state began to pay more attention to "green" issues. In June 2019, the Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources was re-established: there was no environmental department in Kazakhstan for 5 years. At the end of December, the government approved the draft of a new Environmental Code. But his ideology is not so much about preserving nature as about increasing penalties for environmental damage.

In the last 2-3 years, there has also been an increase in civic activism in Kazakhstan, which first began in the online format and then continued offline - in the form of creating groups and movements, holding meetings, actions, and rallies. Thus, despite the absence of classical political life in the country, society still has an influence on the decisions of the authorities through pressure from below.

The goal of the project # 1 is to prove the destructiveness for nature and the economic inconsistency of the construction of a dozen ski resorts in the national park, in the face of climate change.

 

The goal of project # 2 is to prove to the authorities that the main threat to the health of residents of the listed cities is posed by coal-fired power plants, and to convince them to finance the conversion of stations to gas and renewable energy sources, ultimately - to reduce atmospheric pollution in cities in measurable terms by 30% in 5 years ...

The goal of the project # 3 is to prove the high risks and economic senselessness of the construction of a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan, where there are ample opportunities for the development of renewable energy sources - solar, wind, and also obtained from waste incineration.

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