Turning the Tide: Identifying Business Solutions to Central Asia’s Water Woes
January 24, 2024
Evan Johnson and Garrett Mitchell are International Trade Specialists in ITA’s Office of Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia
Last month, government, civil society and the private sector representatives from around the world gathered at the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to renew commitments to combatting climate change.
In his recent paper, Dr. Eric Rudenshiold, a Senior Fellow at the Caspian Policy Center begins with the statement, “nowhere are the challenges highlighted in the United Nations Climate Conference (COP28) more impactful to millions of people than in Central Asia.”
With one third of the region’s glaciers melted, 90 percent of the Aral Sea’s volume having disappeared, and with four of the five Central Asian countries facing water-related stresses, it is clear that the realities of climate change have drastically impacted Central Asia’s water resources.
In addition to climate-induced challenges, the region’s inefficient agricultural practices are also contributing to dwindling water resources. Soviet-era river diversion projects rerouted water destined for the Aral Sea to cotton, wheat, and rice farms. Years later, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development described the Aral Sea as one of the worst man-made environmental disasters in modern history. What was once the world’s fourth largest lake is now over 13 million acres of desert. Scientists are concerned a similar fate could befall Lake Balkhash in Kazakhstan and the Caspian Sea, the world’s largest inland body of water.
These pressing issues will require innovative solutions to reverse the degradation of regional water supplies and revitalize crumbling drainage and irrigation systems. As ITA’s Under Secretary Marisa Lago has stated, nations alone are not going to meet their climate commitments without partnership with the private sector and tapping into their innovation and expertise.
As global leaders in climate and clean tech solutions, U.S. companies are well positioned to meet this need. In a new market intelligence brief, ITA’s Office of Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia highlights current and emerging opportunities for U.S. companies providing technologies, services, and financial and other types of management systems—from canal lining and meters to capacity building trainings on corporate governance and financial management—that will help the Government of Uzbekistan make their water supplies and management systems more efficient and resilient.
Non-profit organizations may also consider applying to the International Trade Administration’s Market Development Cooperator Program. Chosen eligible U.S. entities will receive up to $300,000 in matching funds to pursue a 3-5 year project designed to help U.S. companies export.
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