Norsk Energi took part in OECD’s Green Growth Study on Kazakhstan

Norsk Energi took part in a policy study on the adoption of BAT and reforming environmental taxes to reduce air pollution in Kazakhstan. The study was recently published by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

There is significant evidence that economic growth of Kazakhstan in recent years led to significant air pollution.The Government of Kazakhstan has asked OECD to advise on reforming its system of environmental payments, so that it encourages wider adoption of best available techniques (BAT) and the Polluter-Pays-Principle (PPP). Norsk Energi’s Sergei Faschevsky took part in this work as an international expert.

Drawing from air pollution regulations and environmentally related taxes in Norway and other OECD countries, Sergei put together the most recent thinking on possible directions for reforming system of environmental payments (taxes, penalties and damages) in Kazakhstan in line with the benchmark OECD approach. Furthermore, Sergei offered some suggestions on how to promote BAT  and incorporate some elements of the EU’s Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) and Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) to reduce air pollution.

The analysis was carried out under the framework of the joint OECD-Kazakhstan project “Reform of the system of environmental payments. Analysis of compliance with the Polluter Pays Principle (PPP) in Kazakhstan”. Final study from this project was recently released:

OECD (2019), Addressing Industrial Air Pollution in Kazakhstan: Reforming Environmental Payments Policy Guidelines, OECD Green Growth Studies, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/0e04ea86-en.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international organisation with 37 member countries that works to build better policies to stimulate economic progress and world trade.

Contact: Sergei Faschevsky