Country Environmental Analysis: Kazakhstan (2003)

Abstract

A Country Environmental Analysis (CEA) was carried out for Kazakhstan (2003) in order to determine the key factors that will affect economic growth but may have accompanying impacts. The analysis takes a comprehensive look at the built as well as the natural environment of Kazakhstan. It traces the impact of the soviet and post soviet legacy of industrialisation and agricultural policies. The comprehensive Report provides a description of the phyisical and the economic setting of the country identifying the natural and the industrialised landscapes, and therefore the latter heavily transformed urban conurbations. It provides an environmental profile based on these settings and prioritises the key issues that affect the economy. With this background, the Report analyses the underlying reasons for environmental degradation and provides an assessment of the economic implications of this degradation. An evaluation of the opportunities and constraints and the institutional framework is given.

As a final outcome of the analyses, the Report provides a discussion of the challenges and priorities for the country and provides a proposed sector strategy for adoption and consideration by the Asian Development Bank that had commissioned the report. Twelve priority issues were identified, analysed and ranked in order of priority, starting with air quality improvement, management of historically stored contaminating waste in urban agglomerations, as the highest ranked, through to poverty alleviation, ‘food & degraded environments’ as lowest ranked. The application of these priorities was most urgent in the Oblasts of S Kazakhstan, Pavlodar followed by Karaganda. The remaining Oblasts were also ranked. Three priority project concepts to be applied in the Illi-Balkhash region were provided as a first step towards the application of the CEA.

Keywords: Kazakhstan, Country Environmental Analysis, environmental profile, built and natural landscape, ranking of impacts, ranking of Oblasts