New approaches towards energy efficient housing construction in view of climate change discussed with local authorities in Urgench.

On November 22, we, in cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and the Global Environment Facility organized a seminar called “Modern approaches in decision-making in view of climate change."

Participants of the seminar discussed the regulatory framework in the country on urban planning, efficient energy consumption, environmental protection, building permits, proper use of building materials, considering climate change and its improvement.

At the seminar, attention was paid to the importance of gender aspects, while making decisions by local authorities and local governments - mahallas. The international experience was voiced and considered, as well as modern approaches and international practice of decision making.

“It is recognized worldwide that the contribution of housing sector to country's energy consumption and to decreasing greenhouse gas emissions is one of the highest, and accordingly, energy efficiency in housing sector is of paramount importance. It should be noted that energy-efficient and low-carbon solutions in housing sector provide access to affordable and clean energy, which positively affects the environment” – said the Head of department for Construction of Khorezm region, Mr Anvar Utamuratov

At Q&A session participants of our seminar voiced some concerns and recommendations related to the norms and requirements on the environmentally-oriented housing construction which is dispersed in a large number of documents. In addition, it was mentioned that the latter are poorly interconnected.

The seminar in Urgench was attended by 30 representatives including regional representatives of Design and Construction organizations, Mayor’s office, Cadastre, Department of the Ministry of Construction, Committee of Women, Department of the State Committee for Ecology and Environmental protection and the Engineering company Qishloq Qurilish Invest (Qishloq Qurilish Bank).

Participants agreed to cooperate in order to timely and effectively address all recommendations made in the course of seminar in order to protect the environment and mitigate the climate change consequences at the community level.

“Market Transformation for Sustainable Rural Housing in Uzbekistan” is our project which was established in 2017 and has contributed to the construction of 800 efficient houses in five regions (Samarkand,Bukhara,Surkhandarya,Fergana and Khorezm) of Uzbekistan since then.