Just transition and climate change issues high on the constituents’ agenda in Kyrgyzstan
On 5-10 September 2023, national tripartite constituents – government, employers’ and workers organizations - and other partners participated here in a series of events dedicated to the climate change and just transition agenda.
The series of events included a presentation of the Green Jobs Assessment Model (GJAM) developed under the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE), launching of the ILO intervention “Promoting just transitions for an environmentally sustainable economy in Kyrgyzstan” and training of trainers (ToT) to build capacity of local experts to deliver the SCORE4Climate Module to the local enterprises.
In her opening remarks at the PAGE Tripartite Consultation Workshop (5 September 2023), Nazira Kerimalieva, First Deputy Chair of the National Statistics Committee of the Kyrgyz Republic highlighted: “The new Green Economy Strategy for Kyrgyzstan untill 2028 is currently under development. For this purpose reliable high-quality statistical data are required. The assessment commissioned to our Committee covers 4216 entities, with detailed information on expenses and production of ecological goods and services for further measurement of their contribution to GDP. Collection and processing of “green” data and indicators have been a new task for us but the model will enable us to better understand green economy policy tools.”
Dr. Cristina Martinez, Senior Specialist, Lead Enterprise Development, and Green Jobs -Just Transition, ILO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia pointed out: “Some 1.2 billion jobs depend on healthy ecosystems. Workers face increased injury, disease and death due to climate change events. Loss of the equivalent of 80 million jobs due to heat stress is expected by 2030. To address all these challenges, in June 2023 the International Labour Conference adopted the Resolution on just transition that includes a strong role for the ILO to bring together the UN agencies and its tripartite constituents to advance on green economy and support Paris Agreement implementation. While the data collection and analysis inform policy making by taking into consideration socio-economic/ employment dimensions of government policies, the new ILO intervention on capacity building of Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) showcases how to localize the Just Transition process through actions on the ground”.
The kick-off and awareness raising workshop on “Promoting a gender-responsive just transition towards an environmentally sustainable economy in Kyrgyzstan” (6 September 2023) raised the awareness and built the capacity of national partners on Just Transition, with a focus on gender mainstreaming in the just transition process.
Speaking at the workshop, Jyldyz Polotova, Deputy Minister of labour, social security and migration of the Kyrgyz Republic said: “Today our country faces serious climate change challenges, and we suffer from limited water resources and air pollution that can threaten health and lives of our population. Ecological sustainability requires urgent action by different ministries and agencies dealing with employment, labour, human resource development, and occupational standards”.
According to Rysgul Babaeva, Deputy Chair of the Federation of Trade Unions of Kyrgyzstan, “trade unions welcome this new and very important intervention launched in Kyrgyzstan. We assure that technical inspection and sectorial workers’ organizations will take an active part in the project implementation.”
Zhoodar Omoshov, Board chair, JIA business-association informed the participants that “JIA has established a Green Economy Committee and promotes climate change and green economy concepts among its members. JIA is highly interested in the new initiative.”
The participants stressed the need to extend the project implementation beyond the completion date of May 2024. They called for inter-agency cooperation in promoting a just transition and green economy agenda in Kyrgyzstan, as well as institutionalization of the process, also by improving the capacity of local Knowledge Intensive Business Service (KIBS) and local SCORE trainers to independently promote and deliver training on the SCORE4Climate module.
Following the kick-off and awareness raising workshop, a SCORE Training-of-Trainers was conducted from 7-10 September. It equipped 17 local experts with the knowledge and skills required for delivering on-site training and consultations with pilot enterprises to be selected from the priority sectors identified by the tripartite partners and stakeholders during the workshop.
In a country where individual entrepreneurs and micro and small businesses (MSME) account for around 91% of total employment, providing dedicated support to greening MSMEs would serve as an important entry point to further Kyrgyzstan’s efforts to promote a just transition. The ILO intervention promotes a just transition for MSMEs through a tailored training programme, i.e. SCORE4Climate which is a training module from the ILO Sustaining Competitive and Responsible Enterprises (SCORE) programme that improves productivity and working conditions in MSMEs through practical classroom training and in-factory consulting. The training demonstrates best international practice in the manufacturing and service sectors and helps MSMEs to participate in global supply chains.
