National State of the Environment Report: Uzbekistan

The National State of the Environment Report: Uzbekistan (2023) provides a comprehensive assessment of environmental trends, socio-economic drivers, and policy responses in Uzbekistan. Using the DPSIR framework, the report details critical challenges including severe water scarcity, land degradation, atmospheric pollution, and the ongoing Aral Sea crisis, while highlighting progress in renewable energy, afforestation, and public health.

• Uzbekistan is experiencing significant water scarcity, ranked 25th out of 164 countries for water stress. Per capita water availability has declined from 3,048 m3 to 1,400 m3 over the last 15 years, with agriculture consuming up to 90% of water resources.
• The Aral Sea has shrunk drastically, with water volume declining from 1,083 km3 in 1960 to 69.31 km3. This has created the Aralkum desert over 5 million hectares, which releases over 700 million tonnes of salt and dust mixtures annually.
• Atmospheric air pollution is driven by energy, oil and gas, metallurgy, chemical, and construction industries, as well as mobile sources. While some pollutants like CO and hydrocarbons have decreased, NOx and particulate matter emissions have increased.
• Uzbekistan is highly vulnerable to climate change, with average annual temperatures increasing by 1.6°C since 1880, a rate higher than the global average. This has led to glacier degradation, with some basins seeing reductions of up to 67.4% between 1957 and 2010.
• Land degradation and desertification are prevalent, with 70% of the country being arid or semi-arid. Anthropogenic factors such as overgrazing and outdated irrigation have led to 70% of pastures being degraded.
• The government has launched the Yashil Makon ("Green Land") initiative to plant 200 million trees and shrubs annually until 2030, aiming to increase urban green spaces from 8% to 30% and state forest cover from 7.5% to 15%.
• Uzbekistan is transitioning toward green energy, with a target to generate 27 GW from green power plants by 2030. In 2023, seven projects totaling 2.6 GW of solar and wind capacity were launched.
• Waste management remains a challenge; while municipal waste collection coverage reached 85%, most waste is disposed of in landfills. Industrial waste is significant, with 115 million tonnes generated annually.
• Public health shows mixed trends: child underweight rates decreased from 5.1% in 2006 to 1.8% in 2021-2022, but the probability of premature death from noncommunicable diseases is over 26.9%.
• Biodiversity is under pressure from agricultural expansion and poaching, though protected areas have grown to 6,321,258.21 ha, covering 14.08% of the country's total area.
• Uzbekistan has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions per unit of GDP by 35% by 2030 compared to 2010 levels.

APA

Asilbekova, K., Yarullina, Z., Plocen, M., Sherimbetov, K., Li, T., Talipov, J., Abdullayev, U., Makhmudov, B., Shokirov, N., Abdukhalikov, J., Tursunaliyev, A., Usmanova, S., & Mirshina, O. (2023). National State of the Environment Report: Uzbekistan. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2024-02/uzbekistan-state-of-the-environment-en.pdf

Chicago

Asilbekova, Khaniya, Zulfiya Yarullina, Marina Plocen, Khalilulla Sherimbetov, Tatiana Li, Jakhongir Talipov, Umarjon Abdullayev, et al. National State of the Environment Report: Uzbekistan. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2023. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2024-02/uzbekistan-state-of-the-environment-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{asilbekova2023national, author = {Asilbekova, Khaniya and Yarullina, Zulfiya and Plocen, Marina and Sherimbetov, Khalilulla and Li, Tatiana and Talipov, Jakhongir and Abdullayev, Umarjon and Makhmudov, Bobur and Shokirov, Numonjon and Abdukhalikov, Javokhir and Tursunaliyev, Anvar and Usmanova, Shahnoza and Mirshina, Olga}, title = {{National State of the Environment Report: Uzbekistan}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2023}, month = dec, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2024-02/uzbekistan-state-of-the-environment-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }