New Environmental Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Who, if not young people, when, if not now!

The seminar “New Environmental Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan: Objectives and Prospects” was successfully held on February 18, 2021 within the framework of the national project “Green Bridge through Generations”. It brought together representatives of various universities in the country on a virtual platform, including undergraduates, doctoral students, senior undergraduate students and their mentors – teachers. The organizer of this meeting was the UNESCO Chair on Sustainable Development of the Faculty of Geography and Environmental Management of the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.

On January 2, 2021, the Head of State, Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, signed a new Environmental Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as the Law “On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Environmental Issues.”

What is the uniqueness, value for our society of the new Environmental Code and what are its main differences from the previous one, published in 2007? What prospects does the new Code open up in the field of radioactive waste management and in addressing other aspects of environmental legislation – this is not a complete list of issues voiced during the online meeting. The master students of Al-Farabi KazNU Alia Erdvalieva, Kazybekkyzy Perizat and Dikova Lyubov, who spoke at the seminar, gave quite accurate and detailed explanations, and on a number of issues, critical remarks to the content of this document.

The new Environmental Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan has many structural and, most importantly, substantive differences. Taking into account the best international experience of the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the principles of “polluter pays”, “corrects” and “prevents” have been introduced, which indicates the preventive nature of eliminating the consequences of environmental damage.

Industrial enterprises and other users of natural resources will obligatorily provide compensation for damage to the environment, but now they pay fines and continue to pollute. The responsibility for illegal felling of trees is also increasing, and in the event of a repeated offense or felling in specially protected natural areas, large enterprises will be fined up to 1500 MCI.

Consequently, the new version of the Code strengthens the responsibility of nature users for pollution and any other damage to the environment!

A real opportunity to improve the environmental situation in the country is the introduction of the best available technologies (BAT), therefore the new Code requires natural resource users to introduce such technologies in order to reduce emissions. The enterprises will implement BAT in accordance with the environmental efficiency program for 10 years. At the same time, enterprises that have implemented BAT will be exempted from emission fees.

The new Code also proposes to introduce new approaches to environmental impact assessment (EIA), it is proposed to apply the requirement to undergo an EIA only for enterprises of the 1st category, at truly environmentally hazardous facilities. In addition, the draft Code provides for compulsory financing of environmental activities at the expense of incoming environmental payments in the amount of 100%.

Commenting on the discussed Code, Professor Pavlichenko L.M., noted that another major environmental problem is the low processing of municipal solid waste and the lack of adequate infrastructure for their separate collection and sorting. In this connection, it is proposed to introduce the Waste to Energy mechanism, which provides for the incineration of waste with the subsequent generation of electricity.

In addition, the new Environmental Code provides for the licensing of hazardous waste activities and a notification procedure for the collection and transportation of waste. With regard to radioactive waste, the new legislation puts forward environmental requirements for the use of radioactive materials, atomic energy and radiation safety, as well as for storage and disposal of radioactive waste. However, according to experts, additional measures are needed to create a geological storage facility and a facility for processing radioactive waste in Kazakhstan.

An objective and non-indifferent discussion of the key elements of the EcoCode and the proposed measures for its implementation took place. “Who, if not we, are young people, when, if not now,” was the leitmotif of the last seminar.

All materials of the seminar are posted on the portal “Green Bridge through Generations” http://greenbridgework.kaznu.kz, which fully meets the targets of the Virtual Communication Platform of this National Project to involve youth, scientific and academic community in promoting “green” initiatives and the best sustainable development practices.

Organizers of the seminar: Bazarbayeva T.A. – Head of the UNESCO Chair on Sustainable Development and Tazhibaeva T.L. – Moderator, Faculty of Geography and Environmental Management