The High-Level Policy Dialogue on Energy-Water-Land Use Nexus in Central Asia took place on 15 October 2021 in Tashkent, and brought together Central Asian representatives for an exchange of views on cooperation opportunities concerning long-term energy, water and land use policies and the development of sustainable, climate-resilient national and regional infrastructure to support the “nexus”. 

Central Asia is a hot spot where climate change is already threatening the environment and the natural resource base on which the region’s future socioeconomic development relies. Central Asia is also imbalanced in terms of the distribution of arable land, water resources, fossil fuel deposits, climate and topography across the region. Central planning under the Soviet Union mitigated some of these imbalances, but also led to unsustainable use of natural resources including over exploitation of land and water.