Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Within the framework of the 21st session of the Committee to Review the Implementation of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (CRIC-21), Minister of Environment Aziz Abdukhakimov held a meeting with Deputy Secretary General of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Huseyin Avni Bicakli.

During the meeting, Huseyin Avni Bicakli noted the active role of Uzbekistan over the past 5 years and expressed gratitude to the Government of Uzbekistan for the successful holding of the 16th summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization on 8-9 November 2023 in Tashkent.

The agenda of the meeting included issues of cooperation in the field of research activities, in particular the establishment of close relations between the scientific community in the field of ecology of the ECO countries on the basis of the Central Asian University of Environmental Studies and Climate Change (Green University). Along with this, the parties discussed the possibilities of implementing the principles of sustainable energy and the environment in the Central Asian region together with the Green University and the Clean Energy Center in Baku (Azerbaijan) of the ECO countries.

The ECO Deputy Secretary General noted the dynamic level of cooperation between Uzbekistan and the ECO countries in all areas. In this vein, the initiative of Uzbekistan on the need to strengthen interaction between ECO member countries in the fight against climate change and environmental protection is mentioned, as well as the proposal to hold, within the framework of the upcoming Samarkand Climate Forum in 2024, the first conference of the ECO High-Level Platform on Environmental Issues, created at the initiative of Uzbekistan .

In addition, the ECO expressed its readiness to organize support for the initiative to develop the Samarkand Declaration on combating sand and dust storms within the framework of CRIC-21, put forward by the head of Uzbekistan at the 16th ECO summit.

As a result of the meeting, an agreement was reached on the participation of the ECO Secretary General at the Samarkand Climate Forum and joint development of the issue of participation of high-level representatives of the ECO countries.