LocationsCapacity building drives Kazakhstan's progress in climate reporting
June 2, 2025
In 2025, as countries around the world update their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC 3.0) and strengthen efforts to address the triple planetary crisis, climate transparency has become more important than ever. For Kazakhstan, recent progress in climate reporting demonstrates how sustained investments in institutional capacity and technical expertise can help countries meet the growing requirements of the Paris Agreement.
On 24 November 2024, Kazakhstan became one of the first thirteen countries globally to submit its first Biennial Transparency Report (BTR) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) during COP29 in Baku. The report consolidates comprehensive information on the national greenhouse gas inventory; progress towards implementing and achieving Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs); climate change impacts and adaptation actions; mitigation measures and projections through 2040; and the financial, technological, and capacity-building support received and needed.
The country’s first BTR is now undergoing an in-country technical review. Kazakhstan is among nine countries participating in this process in spring 2025, during which the UNFCCC Technical Expert Review Team (TERT) provides targeted feedback and capacity-building support to national experts.
The progress Kazakhstan has achieved is already evident.
“We have studied the Kazakhstan report in depth. I have been working with Kazakhstan for a long time, since 2017, and I can confidently say that the number of problems we found during Kazakhstan's first inspection has decreased by almost 80 percent. I would especially like to note that Kazakhstan has improved the quality of its greenhouse gas inventory reporting in terms of data quality and processing,”shared Olia Glade, a Lead Reviewer from the UNFCCC Technical Expert Review Team.
Kazakhstan has steadily strengthened its climate reporting framework over the years. Since submitting its first National Communication in 1998 and its first Biennial Report in 2014, the country has deepened its engagement in international review processes while strengthening legislative and institutional frameworks to move towards carbon neutrality. Kazakhstan has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, or by 25 percent with substantial additional international investment and support. Tracking progress towards these targets is a key function of the Biennial Transparency Reports.
“Kazakhstan made significant steps toward improvements: the GHG inventory team now includes excellent specialists, and the inventory process shifted from periodic project-based work to a permanent structure, allowing continuous growth and development, bringing significant benefits to the inventory of Kazakhstan and climate change.”said Olia Glade.
Recognizing that capacity building is essential for effective climate reporting, UNDP, in collaboration with the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Kazakhstan, organized a series of training sessions in late 2024 for national and international experts involved in preparing the BTR. Experts from Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and Eastern Europe participated in training led by UNFCCC specialists, strengthening their knowledge of reporting requirements, greenhouse gas inventory tools, methodologies for tracking NDC progress, and the application of the Modalities, Procedures and Guidelines (MPGs).
The ongoing review process will identify additional areas for improvement and capacity-building needs for Kazakhstan’s experts. Recommendations will be consolidated in the technical review report scheduled for publication in August 2025.
Looking ahead, Kazakhstan is expected to participate in the Facilitative Multilateral Consideration of Progress (FMCP) session at COP30 in Belém under the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI), where it will present the outcomes of its first BTR review and respond to questions from developed and developing countries. As climate reporting requirements continue to evolve, strengthening national expertise and institutional capacity will remain essential for ensuring transparency, accountability, and progress toward climate goals.
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