Astana, Kazakhstan – The EU-funded “Sustainable Energy Connectivity in Central Asia (SECCA)” project co-organised a panel session titled “The Innovation Challenge: Making Climate Action Work for All” as part of the European Union – Kazakhstan Sustainable Energy Days.

The event took place during the Astana International Forum (AIF), in collaboration with Kazakhstan’s ECOJER Association. It fell under one of the three core topics of the Forum – “Energy and Climate Change”.

The session brought together a high-level panel of global leaders, experts, investors, international organisations, NGOs, and academia. Yerlan Nyssanbayev, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan, opened the session and welcomed the participants. Kyriacos Kakouris, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank, delivered the key-note speech. The experts, among them Mukhtar Babayev, Representative of the President of Azerbaijan on Climate Issues, Lord Francis Maude, Member of the House of Lords of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Francesco La Camera, Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and Laura Vecvagare, Regional Head of Industry for Infrastructure and Natural Resources of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) discussed the innovative pathways to achieving the Paris Agreement goals, accelerating green transition, and unlocking socio-economic opportunities through climate action. The session was moderated by Dr Joshua Lincoln, Senior Fellow, the Fletcher School of Global Affairs, Tufts University, a member of the New Carbon Economy Consortium.

The event was aligned with the EU’s Global Gateway strategy and the Team Europe Initiative, which aim to support smart, clean and secure energy transition in Central Asia. SECCA’s involvement underlines the EU’s commitment to regional cooperation on sustainable energy and climate change.