American University of Central Asia - AUCA - ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE PROGRAM

The ancient routes of the silk road that traverse Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian countries have led to the establishment of many diverse ethnic communities and cultures. While sedentary peoples settled along the fertile areas of the Ferghana Valley, the nomadic clans move among yurts in high mountain pastures of the Tian Shan mountains, some just a few thousand feet below the height of Mt. Everest.

Today, the environment here has become extremely fragile, leaving many communities impoverished and in conflict with their neighbors. After independence, Kyrgyzstan and other former Soviet Republics in Central Asia were faced with a myriad of environmental and socio-economic problems, including agricultural land and water degradation, forest-health deterioration, flooding and landslide disasters.

There is growing awareness in the region that sustainable economic development, conflict prevention, and poverty alleviation are linked to investments in equitable and durable environmental protection.

A critical barrier to reforms in countries like Kyrgyzstan is both the lack of innovative science-based land and water management strategies implemented at the local level, and the lack of multidisciplinary analysis of policies made at the national level that can appropriately address the challenges of environmental and socio-economic change, and lead to environmental sustainability. This is due in large part to the dearth of environmental research in the field, experience and expertise among professionals in most Central Asian countries. The under-capacity has created a significant need for science-based policies and programs that are more strategic, transparent, and equitable in the areas of land and water use, integrated ecosystems management, forestry, property development, and in the future of planning around climate adaptation.

Longer-term sustainability in Central Asia can be secured only if the next generation of leaders gains more experience and training in the environmental sciences, management, and public policy. The Tian Shan Policy Center was established to work as a training ground, bringing together AUCA’s highly diverse faculty with students and graduates to work with government officials and NGOs in building capacity for science-based environmental programs and policy reforms. Through Tian Shan projects, existing and future leaders will have an opportunity to work with global environmental experts, and to gain experience solving problems in multidisciplinary teams at the local level, where community problems are most acute, and at the national level where policies are driven. AUCA's Tian Shan Policy Center believes that investing in their future will pay large dividends in the region’s environmental sustainability.

Promoting Climate Adaptation to Reduce Social Vulnerability in Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia

As global climate change intensifies, communities already threatened by water scarcity, food and housing insecurity, low employment, and the spread of disease are likely to become more vulnerable to disasters. This is much of the developing world. People may be displaced or forced to migrate to avoid the worst impacts. “One out of 19 persons living in developing countries may be affected, in comparison to 1 out of 1,500 persons living in OECD countries.”[1] The exact number of people who will be affected throughout the world is unknown—average estimates range from 23 million per year to 62 million. Climate scientists predict that temperatures in Central Asia will increase by 2 degrees celsius, possibly just in the next ten years. Many believe climate change impacts are already being felt, exacerbating drought and desertification in summer and storms and landslides in the winter which affect agricultural production for communities, particularly living in fragile mountain ecosystems. Many are already forced to migrate as a means to cope with decreased income from the lands due to soil erosion, flooding or other environmental changes. TSPC is working with government agencies and global experts to help develop programs that can build community resilience and adapt with new approaches to land and water management, ecosystem protection, and new livelihood activities.

In the 2010 negotiations of the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (“COP”) in Cancun, Mexico governments concluded an action agenda on climate adaptation that encouraged cooperation on addressing climate change-induced displacement, migration, and relocation. This was supported by governments in the 2011 COP in Durban. As governments undertake short-term and long-term adaptation planning, their traditional approaches to human mobility are shifting.[2]

TSPC Deputy Director, Michelle Leighton chaired the United Nations University, Environment and Human Security section Summer Academy on improving legal and institutional protection for communities threatened by climate change impacts, particularly those forcibly displaced or who migrate.

[1] Roundtable 3, Report of Proceedings, Fourth Meeting of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (Mexico, 8-11 Nov. 2010), at p. 37, available at: http://www.gfmd.org/en/documents-library/mexico-2010.html

[[2] This introduction is excerpted from M. Leighton, “Population displacement, relocation, and migration,” in a forthcoming book, The Law of Adaptation to Climate Change: U.S. and International Aspects, eds. Michael Gerrard and Katrina Kuh (ABA, 2011).

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND CLIMATE CHANGE