OREANDA-NEWS. November 19, 2012. The Ministry of Environmental Protection of RK has developed the National Allocation Plan aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Plan is a mechanism that regulates internal trading of greenhouse gas emission allowances. The allowances are defined based on reduction of emissions and have a certain price at the carbon market. The implementation of the National Allocation Plan starts on January 1, 2013. The allowances are granted to large enterprises operating in oil and gas, energy, hydrometallurgy and other industries in which emissions exceed the equivalent of 20 thousand tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year.

The workshop dedicated to the launch of the National Allocation Plan for greenhouse gas emission allowances and issues of “green economy” will be held on November 20, 2012 in Pavlodar. The organizers of the event are the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the United Nations Development Programme.

The main items on the agenda of the workshop are as follows: how industrial enterprises could reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make it a profitable business; prospects of introducing “green” technologies in production.

According to scientists, if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced, then they could lead to irreversible catastrophic effects. Kazakhstan has been already experiencing these effects in the form of expansion of desert and semi-desert areas, depletion of water resources, intensified floods and debris flows. Kazakhstan has undertaken international commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15% - up to 2020 and by 25% - up to 2050 compared to the levels in 1990.

Such enterprises (in total 178) account for about 80% of overall greenhouse gas emissions in the country. The new system will encourage businesses to reduce greenhouse gas emissions using clean “green” technologies. However, enterprises that fail to meet commitments are subject to significant penalties. "Kazakhstan takes an unprecedented effort. In CIS we are the first country which steps forward to establish a national emissions trading system. This is a kind of innovation", Nurlan Kapparov, the Minister of Environmental Protection of RK, stated.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection of Republic of Kazakhstan and the United Nations Development Programme, in the framework of the joint project, are conducting a workshop "Trading Platform for Greenhouse Gas Emission Allowances. Green Economy in Kazakhstan” to spell out the new legislation.

The workshop is designed for representatives of territorial administrations of MEP RK and natural resource and environmental control administrations, as well as for enterprises that are listed in the National Allocation Plan from Pavlodar, North Kazakhstan, East Kazakhstan, Akmola, Karagandy and Kostanai oblasts.