How Kazakhstan Can Fix Air Pollution: An Ecologist's Opinion

Last week, Almaty hosted the Third Central Asian Conference on Air Quality, organized by the Association of Practising Ecologists, UNEP, and partners. The head of the Association, Laura Malikova, shared the highlights from this event with Orda.kz.

On the first day of the conference, they discussed specific pollution: factories, transport, housing, and landfills — and touched on natural sources of pollution, primarily dust storms. Tajikistan has made significant progress in studying the phenomenon of dust storms.  

Laura Malikova noted that according to the results of a study by international organizations studying air quality, low-cost sensors for measuring the concentration of suspended substances, such as PM2.5, are primarily aimed at analyzing the content of very small particles in the atmosphere. However, they are poorly suited for studying dust storms since dust particles are larger than PM2.5. 

Therefore, new technical solutions need to be sought to monitor dust storms. International grant programs can help in cooperation with NGOs from Central Asian countries. Following a two-day regional conference, representatives of government agencies from Central Asian countries developed solutions for systemic improvement of air quality in their countries, which will serve as a working document. 

The Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan conducted research on the impact of air quality on human health in Aqtobe. I believe that the role of the Ministry of Health in protecting the environmental rights of citizens should be strengthened, as the UN General Assembly in 2022 officially recognized that the right to clean air is a basic human right, said Laura Malikova.

In Kazakhstan, industrial facilities are the main polluters. Irresponsible business practices also play a substantial role. Despite the requirements of the Environmental Code of Kazakhstan and the government, officials are not interested in solving these problems; corruption is a factor. 

The atmosphere is heavily polluted by coal-fired thermal power plants, which generate 70% of thermal energy. They use low-quality Yekibastuz coal with a 42% ash content, which cannot be sold on foreign markets. They also sell Shubarkol coal with a 13% ash content abroad. The result is high levels of physical conditions, including allergies and asthma, among city residents in places where coal-fired thermal power plants are located.

And here we cannot fail to mention once again the greed of Kazakhstani oligarchs, who harm the health of Kazakhstan's residents for the sake of high profits. Since 2017, I have been promoting and continue to promote the idea of ​​gasification of the country, the transition from coal to gas, which we have enough of in our country. As a result of our constant appeals, in 2018 the president of the country decided to gasify Astana. We built a main gas pipeline that transports gas to Astana from the Qyzylorda region through the central regions of Kazakhstan, said Laura Malikova.

Jezkazgan, Temirtau, and Qaraganda are also connected to this gas pipeline. There was a plan to extend the pipeline to Petropavlovsk, but it has not been carried out. Active gasification of Astana is currently underway. And after this, the air quality in Astana has significantly improved compared to 2017. It is necessary to stop using coal at thermal power plants as soon as possible. It can be used in coal chemistry, which converts coal into liquid fuel. The conversion allows it to be cleaned of harmful impurities before its use. 

Kazakhstan also has a Paris Agreement obligation. Burning gas indeed releases carbon dioxide. Nonetheless, gas is much less harmful than coal. Therefore, in winter, the air in Aqtau and Atyrau is much cleaner than in Almaty or Astana; their thermal power plants operate on gas. 

As for the rest of the industrial plants, Article 113 in the Environmental Code stipulates that new enterprises of the first category must implement the Best Available Technologies (BAT). According to Article 418 of the Environmental Code, the list of enterprises operating at the time of entry into force of the EcoCode, which are also obliged to implement the Best Available Technologies from 2025, is defined by the Decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan. 

The enterprises that have emitted the most pollutants over the past three to four years are monitored, as are their planned emissions levels into the atmosphere. Based on this, a list of the 50 largest polluting enterprises has been compiled. This list included, but is not limited to, 14 coal-fired thermal power plants, three oil refineries, the ERG group of companies, the Kazakhmys group of companies, TCO, NCOC, and 10 cement plants. 

From 2025, all these facilities must implement the Best Available Technology reference and significantly reduce atmospheric emissions. Otherwise, they will have to pay an increased pollution tax, which will grow exponentially. The BAT references were approved at the government level in December 2023 and based on the EU and Russian references, depending on the types of production since some production in the EU does not exist.

These BAT references describe everything: from the beginning of the process to its completion, right down to the ash content of the coal and the filters used. Enterprises are given 10 years to implement BAT. This way, they can implement everything and significantly reduce their emissions into the atmosphere according to the “polluter pays” principle. 

Thus, Kazakhstan has a real chance to improve the air situation in cities, and cases of gasification confirm this. For example, thanks to the installation of electrostatic filters and other mechanisms, Aqtobe and Oskemen have also made some progress. Although emissions are not quite at the desired levels, they have decreased.

Measures needed to improve air quality significantly: 

• Gasification in the energy sector
• Implementation of the best available technologies in factories
• Moving the most polluting enterprises (such as Kazzinc in Oskemen) located within the city outside the city limits
• Implementing natural solutions to prevent dust storms or mitigate their effects. 

Imagine: Kazzinc, according to official data alone, emits 16 thousand tons of sulfur dioxide per year! That is why city residents often complain about a chemical burn in their throat. And when I was there in the summer, I felt it myself. This is unacceptable: for the benefit of certain business owner, making healthy citizens sick, making citizens disabled, and then increasing the burden on the healthcare and social support systems. And business must understand that it can no longer work the way it was set up 50 years ago, noted Laura Malikova.

Another pollution factor is transport, especially obsolete forms. The Environmental Code stipulates that vehicles must have a catalytic converter to clean exhaust gases. Article 334 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Kazakhstan provides for liability for the operation of transport polluting the air. 

Increasing green spaces is also vital. In 2019, at the UN Climate Summit in New York, the ECCA2030 project was presented, aimed at increasing the area of ​​green spaces in Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia to 30 million hectares by 2030. After returning from this conference, President Toqayev proclaimed the initiative "Jasyl Kazakhstan." He stated that it is necessary to plant two billion trees in the forest fund and 15 million within the city limits:

If successfully implemented, this can also significantly improve the air quality in populated areas, moderate temperatures and improve the health of residents. And planting saxaul in the Aral Sea region can mitigate the situation with dust and sand storms.

The regional platform on air quality in Central Asia AQCA was launched in Bishkek in 2022 as part of the regional project for Central Asia. An organizer was the Association of Practicing Ecologists. The goal is to strengthen the capacity of government agencies in monitoring and controlling air quality.

Another aim is to increase the number of posts monitoring air quality, the reliability of the data received, their further processing and systematization, employees' skills, and switch to international standards for air quality indicators. 

Public awareness is also crucial. The AQCA platform gathers civil servants, scientists, experts, activists, and NGOs from four Central Asian countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan.

Original Author: Danil Utyupin