Fulfilling international obligations of the Republic of Kazakhstan toward achieving carbon neutrality: Legal challenges and prospects
Nukusheva A. Abdizhami A. Assanova S. Karzhassova G. Akhmetova K.
January 2025LLC CPC Business Perspectives
Environmental Economics
2025#16Issue 41 - 14 pp.
Many countries face the need for structural transformation of their economies, particularly in terms of environmental and climate aspects. Global decarbonization initiatives have forced Kazakhstan to revise its economic policy priorities as well as legal regulation in several spheres. The objective of this study was to identify the existing legal challenges confronting Kazakhstan in fulfilling its international commitments to achieve carbon neutrality. The methodological basis is presented by political and legal analysis. Persistent issues in Kazakhstan’s pursuit of carbon neutrality include the absence of clear and transparent mechanisms for allocating CO2 emissions quotas, insufficient harmonization with international law, poor institutional coordination, and a lack of legal instruments to incentivize businesses and ensure public participation. Some decarbonization decisions conflict with other government programs and priorities, such as plans to increase hydrocarbon production. From a formal legal perspective, the key challenges for Kazakhstan include unclear mechanisms for implementing the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), the absence of legal tools for abandoning fossil fuels, insufficient transparency of the NDC, and weak formalization of the consultation mechanism with stakeholders (including NGOs and the private sector). Among the challenges identified, there are an absence of an institutional basis for the functioning of a single center for managing climate policy, problems of law enforcement, as well as a lack of generalized judicial practice.
climate change , decarbonization , nationally determined contribution (NDC) , Paris Agreement , regulation
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Department of Civil and Labour Law, Karaganda University named after Academician E.A., Buketov, Kazakhstan
Department of Civil Law and Civil Procedure, Labour Law, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Kazakhstan
Department of General Legal and Special Disciplines, Karaganda University of Kazpotrebsoyuz, Kazakhstan
Department of Theories and Histories of State and Law, Karaganda University named after Academician E.A., Buketov, Kazakhstan
Department of Civil and Labour Law
Department of Civil Law and Civil Procedure
Department of General Legal and Special Disciplines
Department of Theories and Histories of State and Law
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