Green Economy as a Paradigm of Sustainable Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Maxat Kalikov,Bakytnur Zh. Uteyev,Aiman Khajieva,Uldana A.Torekulova

1 Department of Finance and Accounting,University of International Business,Almaty,Republic of Kazakhstan 2 Department of Management,Economics and Law in Health,Kazakh Medical University of Continuing Education,Almaty,Republic of Kazakhstan

3 Department of Management and Business,University of International Business,Almaty,Republic of Kazakhstan

Keywords Low-carbon economy Renewable energy sources Carbon dependence Economic damage

Abstract The aim of the paper is to analyse the green economy as a paradigm of sustainable development of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The paper found that the use of alternative energy is an integral part of the development of the green economy. It is determined that the total capacity of renewable energy sources in the world until 2024 will increase by 50%.The necessary elements of the transition to the green economy are the development of new financial instruments,namely,payments for ecosystem services,green banking,stocks and bonds,markets for the sale of intellectual property in environmental technologies.

1 Introduction

The global crisis has clearly shown the exhaustion of the viability of the economic growth model of the technogenic type,the characteristic features of which are: quick and exhausting use of non-renewable types of natural resources; overexploitation of renewable resources at rates exceeding the possibilities of their reproduction and restoration;accumulation of huge volumes of pollutants and waste in excess of natural assimilation capabilities.Such an economic system involves wasteful use of natural resources, ignores environmental requirements and the negative consequences of economic activity –damage to human health and environmental degradation. At the end of the 80s of the last century, in contrast to this idea of economic development, the concept of sustainable development arose, suggesting the consideration of environmental factors and the necessity to carry out economic activities in conditions of improving environmental quality. Social,economic and environmental problems associated with the use of natural resources and the state of the environment have been the focus of attention of mankind over the past two decades. The largest UN forums were devoted to environmental issues,the solution of which is closely connected with the transition to sustainable development: Rio de Janeiro(1992 and Rio+20,2012),Johannesburg(2002),Copenhagen(2009). However,despite the efforts of governments,the public of various countries and states,environmental degradation is increasing(Shah et al.,2016;Lavrinenko et al.,2019). The OSCE’s report, “Environmental Outlook to 2050” outlines the key circumstances critical to the growth of the global economy: an increase in the destructive power and frequency of natural disasters caused by increased CO2emissions and an increasing greenhouse effect,as well as disappointing forecasts for the coming decades;loss of biodiversity,leading to a reduction and depletion of natural resources that for thousands of years have been the“primary matter”for development;reduction and deterioration of water resources amid increased global demand,which will increase by more than 55%in the next 20 years;air pollution in megacities,accompanied by an increase in morbidity and mortality (estimated at 3.6 million people per year). The problem of sustainable growth and preservation of the environment is relevant both throughout the planet and in individual countries,regions,and in individual territories(Sun et al.,2019;Nurgaliyeva et al.,2018). For the whole world,as well as for the Republic of Kazakhstan,this problem is extremely acute.

The increasing environmental problems led to the realisation,both in theory and in practice,of the necessity to form a new type of economic development in the world, to develop a new “green” economic course. Since 2008,the term“green growth”has been increasingly included in conceptual documents and terminology of international organisations as a key term for the further development of mankind and individual countries. “Green economy” is defined as an economy that provides social justice, enhances people’s well-being and at the same time reduces risks to the natural environment and reduces its degradation(Jianzhong et al.,2018).

The green economy is needed to preserve natural capital, ecosystems, and biodiversity, while at the same time to ensure income and employment growth. This concept has emerged as part of the concept of sustainable development. The essence of sustainable development lies in the interconnected and proportional development of the three components of the state system: economic, social and environmental. The necessity for innovative reform and modernisation of the structure of the economy to ensure its sustainable development is considered as the most important task in the concept of the green economy, which is a model of the economy aimed at improving the well-being of people and ensuring social justice while significantly reducing environmental risks and its degradation. When substantiating the directions of the transition to the green economy in Kazakhstan,it is necessary to evaluate the current level of its formedness, and the differentiation of the development of the country’s regions dictates the need to take into account territorial features when conducting such an assessment.Attempts to generalise the conceptual foundations of the green economy have recently been made by many scientists, including D. Aytzhanova (2016), E. Zomonova and Gomboev (2012), V. Klavdienko (2012) and others. However, interpretation at the theoretical level of influence regional features on the formation of a national model of the green economy and attempts to assess its development at the regional level have not been adequately reflected in the ongoing studies. Separate directions were highlighted in the works of I. Belik and Pryakhin(2013),N.Yashalova(2014),etc.

It seems logical that it is impossible to develop a universal approach to the formation of the green economy at the regional level for Kazakhstan characterised by deep differences in the economic specialisation of its areas,heterogeneity of investment activity and a variety of environmental conditions(Onyusheva et al.,2018). In this regard,in this paper, by assessing the level of development of the green economy of the regions of Kazakhstan using an integral indicator based on adjusted net savings and typologisation of the Kazakhstan regions, the attempt is made to identify the relationship between the level of economic development of the country’s regions and the environmental situation that has developed in them. As a result, based on the grouping of regions of Kazakhstan according to economic and environmental criteria, green policy options are proposed for different types of regions.

Fig.1 Costs of environmental protection in Kazakhstan,bln tenge.

2 Methodology

The green economy is defined as the main tool for sustainable development,that is,a system of economic activities related to the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services that lead to increased human well-being in the long term,while not exposing future generations to significant environmental risks or environmental deficits. The bet on a “green” economy has determined the start of a new technological mode, which replaced the carbon and eco-wasteful ones(Bhowmik et al.,2018). The concept of a“green economy”provides a comprehensive link and organic harmonisation between the three components of sustainable development –economic,social and environmental. At the same time,the model of green economy only supplements,but does not cancel,the model of sustainable development.

Using the analysis method,it was found that the importance of the transition to the green economy is determined by the tasks being solved,among which:

• technological modernisation,leading to the reduction of negative environmental pollution and the exhaustion of natural resources;

• increasing the competitiveness of the economy by reducing dependence on carbon raw materials and their share in the cost of the final product;

• green(environmental) innovations that contribute to the technological renewal of a number of technologically advanced industries with a large multiplier effect;

• transition to a low-carbon economy, reduction of carbon dependence, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and successfully deal with global climate change;

• creation of green jobs(primarily in the energy sector,in transport,in basic industries,in recycling activities);

• development of market mechanisms,strengthening the role of environmental(green)incentives and taxes;

• supporting the development of knowledge(knowledge economy)and environmental education;

• ensuring environmental sustainability in general,etc.

Fig.2 Stages of development of a“green”economy in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The option of moving to the green economy at the global level was proposed in 2008 as part of the Global Green New Deal developed by the United Nations. According to the authors of the course,global investment in rebuilding a shattered financial system is about USD 3 trillion. At the same time, to achieve a critical mass of green and energy-efficient technologies and the transition to a sustainable economy,investments in the amount of only half of this number will be required. Figure 1 shows that electricity takes 10%of all possible environmental costs. The desire of the countries of the European Community to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20%by 2025,increase energy efficiency by 20%and bring the share of renewable energy sources to 20%will radically change the European economy. The US-declared desire to reduce emissions by 50%by 2050,and then by 80%by 2080, will also have a huge impact on the pace of innovation and structural change. In the near future, the key definition for the world’s leading economies will be a“low-carbon economy”with its high energy efficiency and minimal impact on the climate system(Oncel,2017;Stucki,2019). And the implementation of energy and climate priorities automatically means a sharp decrease in environmental pressure due to the close correlation of energy consumption,use of natural resources,greenhouse gas emissions and pollution.

The unbalanced investment policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, leading to an increase in imbalances between the nature-exploiting and manufacturing sectors of the economy,undoubtedly exacerbates environmental problems. The Decree of the Head of State approved the Strategic Plan for the Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan until 2020,which is based on the principle of“green growth”. The plan provides for the creation of a system of resource conservation, energy efficiency and the introduction of renewable energy sources. It sets a goal by 2020 to reduce the energy intensity of GDP by 25%and increase the share of alternative energy sources in total energy consumption to 3%.

Realising that economic growth will inevitably lead to large environmental losses,the largest economies in the world are trying to implement the concept of sustainable development and make the“green”economy a truly effective development model. Kazakhstan should strive for the same thing if it wants to stand on a par with the best economies in the world(Figure 2).

Today, 40% of global innovations are in the green economy, and 50% of them in energy conservation and energy efficiency, which are a key factor in a“green”economy. Energy is responsible not only for the competitiveness and security of the economy, heat and light in our homes,but also for 50%of pollutant emissions and 70% of greenhouse gas (GHG)emissions. That is, the level of energy intensity determines the environmental and climate components of national economies. According to this indicator,Kazakhstan is in eighth place in the world rating of energy intensity,and Russia,for example,is fifteenth.

3 Results and discussions

Today,they talk and write a lot about the necessity to move from a traditional model of the economy based on the use of fossil fuels to a new“green” low-carbon economy that can not only ensure sustainable growth, but also solve social development problems. At the level of global and regional international organisations and forums,active work is underway to create international financial and institutional mechanisms for implementing this strategy both at the level of individual countries and the global system as a whole.The idea of a“green”economy was formulated by the expert community in the UNEP Global Green New Deal report,published in 2008 at the height of the global financial crisis, as a strategy for creating a fundamentally new economic paradigm that will simultaneously bring the world economy out of recession and create the basis for a“green economy”, the transition to which will ultimately ensure the sustainability of economic,social and environmental development.The concept proposed by UNEP immediately attracted close attention from international organisations–the UN,the World Bank,the G8 and the G20.To a large extent,this is due to the fact that,despite many years of attempts by the world community to find a way to achieve economic growth without harming the environment and the exhaustion of natural resources,it has not been possible to find an effective solution on a global scale. The results of the“sustainable twenty years”(between Rio-92 and Rio+20)showed that,in the framework of the traditional economic model,based on the exploitation of fossil fuels and considering the natural environment as an external factor of production, to ensure a combination of economic growth, social development and conservation of natural wealth not only for future generations, but also for living ones becomes more and more problematic(Bhowmik et al.,2019).

Kazakhstan has set high goals for national development: by 2050, the country plans to become one of the 30 most developed countries in the world with a modern and diversified economy. In the long run, the question is about achieving sustainable growth,given the rich natural resources of Kazakhstan,the opportunities for economic growth and a favourable geographical location, as well as the country’s focus on oil and coal energy,and the fact that the Republic of Kazakhstan produces the most intense greenhouse gas emissions among countries CIS.

Among the priorities facing the country,the most relevant are:

• a decrease in the intensity of use of basic resources,including water and land;

• improvement of underdeveloped and aging infrastructure, in particular in the electric power industry;

• improving the well-being of the population and reducing environmental pollution;

• increasing national security by reducing dependence on the water resources of neighbouring countries.

Currently, due to the deterioration of the environmental situation, there has been a sharp intensification of Kazakhstan’s actions in the field of environmental protection, which have found their concentrated expression in the field of administrative control and in the methods of economic and legal regulation. Kazakhstan intends to actively engage in the implementation of the green economy. The current model of Kazakhstan’s economy is called the“brown economy”(economic growth). This suggests that 75%of the economy depends on the oil sector,mining and heavy industry(Figure 3).

For example, in the world over the next few years, the total capacity of renewable energy sources will increase one and a half times–this is the entire current capacity of the United States. The leader will be solar energy. The International Energy Agency (IEA) indicates that the total capacity of renewable energy sources(RES)in the world between 2019 and 2024 grow by 50%. Such an increase will amount to 1.200 GW,which is equivalent to the current total US capacity. Although the share of renewable energy in world electricity production will grow much less impressive: from 26% today to 30% in 2024. The immediate reasons for the projected growth are the reduction in the cost of a unit of installed capacity of renewable energy and the concerted efforts of government policies in this area. “Renewable energy is already the second largest electricity market in the world,but its deployment still needs to be accelerated,as long-term goals for climate,air quality and access to energy must be achieved”. The production of alternative energy sources in the Republic of Kazakhstan is presented in Table 1.

Fig.3 Electricity production indicators.

Table 1 Energy production in the Republic of Kazakhstan(2018,thous kWh).

Kazakhstan sets ambitious goals to increase the share of renewable energy in the country’s energy system.Now this Figure 3 is 1.3%,by the end of 2020 it is planned to bring it to 3%,and by 2030 to 10%. The necessity for RES support is spelled out both in government documents,such as the Concept for the transition to a“green”economy, and in Kazakhstan’s international initiatives, for example, the “Green Bridge” partnership program.It focuses on the exchange of technologies and experience in the field of clean energy (Mundaca et al., 2016;Mundaca and Markandya,2016). According to experts of the International Energy Agency,in the next ten years,solar energy will play a key role in the growth of global renewable energy capacities. Moreover,it is a question of its photovoltaic variety, but “indirect” solar technologies will lag significantly behind the development and demand among power engineers. According to IEA forecasts,solar photovoltaics will account for 60%growth.

Nevertheless, according to the forecast, the number of solar systems in the world on house roofs will more than double by 2024 and amount to about 100 million, with Australia, Belgium, California, the Netherlands and Austria becoming the main markets (in terms of per capita generation). The trends in the development of renewable energy in the world are presented in Figure 4.

Fig.4 Dynamics of trends in the development of renewable energy in the world,MW.

Fig.5 The use of renewable energy in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

An IEA forecast indicates that sustainable growth requires important political and tariff reforms that regulate green energy (Moriarty and Honnery, 2019). Biofuel so far accounts for about 90% of renewable energy in transport,and its use will increase by 25%over the next five years. Here,Asia will prevail in growth,especially China. For a number of reasons, Europe prefers the use of wind energy (Arbabzadeh et al., 2016; Karatayev and Clarke,2016;Keramitsoglou et al.,2016). The European Wind Energy Association WindEurope published a forecast for the development of the industry until 2023 inclusive. Among European countries, in terms of installed wind power capacity in 2023, Germany(71.6 GW)is ahead by a large margin, Spain(32.2 GW)and the UK (29.4 GW) are among the three leaders. In 2018, wind farms generated 14% of European electricity.According to the IEA forecast,wind energy will become the largest electricity supplier in the EU by 2027.

The main conclusion that can be drawn: in the energy business on renewable energy sources,centralisation and large projects still prevail. However,the role of individual energy systems,those that serve specific homes and offices,is growing more and more rapidly in the global energy supply. They have been less profitable so far,but have given their owners more freedom and will continue to develop at an ever-faster pace(Figure 5).

In developed countries, more than 80 different economic instruments are used to stimulate the use of envi-ronmentally friendly technologies (Nurekeshov et al., 2018). However, in the Republic of Kazakhstan, proper mechanisms to support the best technologies are only just beginning to develop. Among the key tools for the transition to a“green economy”are:

Table 2 Diagnostic tests.

• pricing consistent with the principles of sustainable development, including the rejection of ineffective subsidies, the valuation of natural resources in monetary terms and the imposition of taxes on those that harm the environment;

• public procurement policies that encourage the production of environmentally friendly products and the use of production methods that are consistent with the principles of sustainable development;

• reforming environmental taxation systems,with a shift in emphasis from labour taxes to pollution taxes;

• increased public investment in infrastructure consistent with the principles of sustainable development(including public transport,renewable energy,construction of energy-efficient buildings)and natural capital to restore,maintain and,where possible,increase the volume of natural capital;

• targeted government support for research and development related to the creation of environmentally friendly technologies;

• social strategies designed to ensure alignment between social goals and existing or proposed economic strategies.

At the initial stage of greening the economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the problem of providing investment plays a key role. When analysing investment prospects, one should take into account the specificity and scale of the necessary investment volumes for various categories of objects in need of green investment.The following is considered as sources of investment in analytical projects,as well as basic strategic documents:environmental and liquidation funds,mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol,financial assistance from international organisations, foreign investment, private-corporate income from the sale of products and services, loans from second-tier banks and development institutions, included in the Samruk-Kazyna National Welfare Fund. All of these sources already have implementation mechanisms,or there are certain prospects for their creation(Figure 6).

In this regard, Kazakhstan has adopted a number of measures to achieve sustainable development: the republic is an active participant in the process “Environment for Europe” and “Environment and Sustainable Development for Asia”, participates in the preparation of the Regional Central Asian Environmental Action Plan, actively supports the preparation of the Central Asian Sustainable Development Strategy. The country has established the Sustainable Development Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Kazyna Sustainable Development Fund JSC. In addition, a number of regulatory documents were approved that aimed at enhancing sustainable development policies. For example,the“Development Strategy of Kazakhstan until 2030”(1997) provides for seven basic priorities for sustainable development of the country, including energy: economic growth, health, education and well-being of citizens of Kazakhstan, energy resources, development of infrastructure (especially transport and communications), professional government (Development Strategy of Kazakhstan until 2030,1997).

The main goal of the green economy is to recognise the importance of ecosystems and their place in the national and global economy. The green economy focuses on the economical consumption of resources prone to depletion and the rational use of inexhaustible resources. The characteristic features of the green economy are: efficient use of natural resources; conservation and increase of natural capital; reduction of environmental pollution;low carbon emissions;prevention of the loss of ecosystem services and biodiversity;growth in income and employment.

Fig.6 Kazakhstan renewable energy potential.

In Kazakhstan,the necessity for a transition to the green economy was first voiced in 2012 in the Kazakhstan-2050 Strategy. The new political course of the state, “...All developed countries are increasing investments in alternative and green energy technologies. By 2050, their use will allow generating up to 50% of all energy consumed. Obviously,the era of the hydrocarbon economy is gradually approaching its end... I propose creating the“Green Bridge”international organisation in 2013,as well as starting the green project on the basis of four satellite cities around Almaty. The upcoming exhibition EXPO-2017 in Astana should give a powerful impetus to the country’s transition to the“green”path of development...”.

In general, the republic’s transition to the green economy requires significant changes: it is necessary to conduct structural reforms of the budget, tax, environmental and scientific-technical policies, to develop and adopt a balanced and resource-saving environmental management policy. The necessary elements of the transition to the green economy are the development of new financial instruments–payments for ecosystem services,green banking,environmental trust investment funds,green stocks and bonds,markets for the sale of intellectual property on environmental technologies, etc. The national electric power system of Kazakhstan, which covers a vast territory of 2717300 km2(more than the territory of Western Europe), includes three energy zones, two of which(Northern and Southern energy zones)are interconnected by power lines,and a third(Western energy zone)operates isolated from them. According to the results of 2019,the electric power potential of Kazakhstan is the production of electric energy in Kazakhstan by 118 electric stations of various ownership forms.

In the context of regions,according to the results of 2018,the largest volume of production and consumption of electricity falls on Pavlodar (38.3% and 21%, respectively) and Karaganda (16.5% and 18%, respectively).It should be noted that this is a typical phenomenon for these areas. Compared to foreign countries, the energy efficiency of power plants is quite low. Thus,the efficiency of coal condensing power plants in Kazakhstan is on average 32%,while in advanced foreign countries–42%. Also,on June 28,2014,a Decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan approved the“Concept for the development of the fuel and energy complex until 2030”, which combines the development of the oil and gas, coal, nuclear and electric power industries, taking into account international best practices and the latest development trends in world energy. The concept provides for the production capacities of growing demand for energy and fuel. In addition, it is expected to reduce the export of raw materials and the development of deep processing, reduce the energy intensity of the economy,increase energy efficiency.

In Kazakhstan, for many years, the topic of the development of alternative energy sources has remained open. There is a lot of talk,as well as all kinds of initiatives to create real-life enterprises in Kazakhstan,using an alternative taken with the sun or wind as a source of energy. However, recently, Kazakhstan has gradually begun to switch to the use of alternative energy, but so far on a small scale. Thus, an experimental station for generating energy from the wind was installed at the Dzungar Gate using the UN program,and while the results are not yet known, the attempt to create one already says a lot. The topic of the development of alternative energy sources or the use of those types of energy resources that were not previously used has recently become very popular. In the world energy balance,the share of carriers for traditional energy(oil,gas and coal)today is about 74%. At the current level of consumption, open oil reserves will last for 40 years,gas for 56 years, coal for 197 years. As for other energy sources, RES (mainly biomass and hydropower) accounts for 19.5%, and nuclear energy–6.3%. Today,renewable energy is the most dynamically developing form of energy generation in the world. Its global growth rate exceeds 10%annually and is projected to continue in the future. The leaders in the generation of alternative electricity (in terms of the total capacity of existing renewable energy facilities)are the EU,USA,China and India.

At the same time, global demand for renewable energy sources is constantly growing. By the middle of this century, an increase in their share in the global energy balance is projected up to 35%. The attractiveness of renewable energy is associated with the inexhaustibility of these resources, independence from the price situation on world energy markets and environmental cleanliness. The last argument is especially relevant,since traditional energy has a negative impact on the environment both locally and globally.

Today, enterprises in the energy sector of Kazakhstan are the largest source of air pollution. Every year they emit more than a million tons of harmful substances and about 70 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), Kazakhstan ranked third in the world in terms of specific greenhouse gas emissions relative to GDP. A rough estimate of the economic damage from environmental pollution only by coal energy is about USD 3.4 billion per year in Kazakhstan. Thus, ignoring the use of alternative energy and centralising energy supply leads to irrational use of energy resources,reduction of the economy and reliability of energy supply,and also causes significant harm to the environment and human health. Wind and solar energy are not represented at all in the country’s energy balance. What is the renewable energy resource base in Kazakhstan? This issue is always crucial for the development of a technological and technical direction in their use. According to experts,economically feasible to use the potential of wind energy at present may be about 3 billion kilowatt-hours per year. Great opportunities in this are due to the geographical position of Kazakhstan located in the wind belt of the northern hemisphere of the Earth. The potentials of the Dzungar Gate,the region located in the Almaty region on the border with China,and the Shelek corridor located in the same region are best known in this regard. Their capabilities for use air flows in generating electricity are unique. But Kazakhstan’s resources are not limited to this,with the exception of a number of regions in the south and south-west;in Kazakhstan almost everywhere,there is good wind potential. At least fifteen promising sites have been selected for the construction of large wind farms (wind farms). And the density of the wind potential in some places of the republic is 10 megawatts per square kilometre–this is a unique wind potential.Few countries in the world have such. The Republic has huge reserves of traditional energy resources(0.5%of the world balance of fuel reserves),is provided with them for the long term and has significant export potential.

The development of wind energy in Kazakhstan has a number of other advantages. The vast territory, the remoteness of many settlements from large power plants concentrated at coal deposits leads to the need to have power lines of considerable length(about 420 thousand km). Which,firstly,leads to large technological losses during the transportation of electricity (about 14 percent), and secondly, to the vulnerability of power supply from power grid damage. The development of renewable energy sources in Kazakhstan is still at the initial stage, and also has no legislative support. And although a new law on energy conservation is being developed,experts’ forecasts for the near future are not the most optimistic for a number of reasons. The Government of Kazakhstan intends to reach the 50%Renewable Energy Sources(RES)indicator in the overall energy balance by 2050,with an intermediate goal of 3%by 2020 and 10%by 2030.

The mechanism of fixed tariffs at the initial stage of renewable energy development allowed to quickly launch the renewable energy market in the country. Currently, in Kazakhstan there are 58 operating renewable energy facilities with a total capacity of 343 MW. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)is implementing 121 projects in Kazakhstan worth USD 3 billion in Kazakhstan. At the same time,about 80%are projects in the sectors of infrastructure and transport, as well as energy and mining. Of these, about 40%are projects in the energy sector, including renewable ones. Kazakhstan is developing renewable energy, but so far, its successes are modest. In 2016, renewable energy sources generated 32% more electricity, but the share of renewable energy in Kazakhstan to the total generation remains less than 1%. Wind power plants showed the greatest growth, having increased production by 2 times or by 130 million kWh. In 2016, small hydropower plants generated 577.2 million kWh,which is 10%more than in 2015. Wind farms exceeded production in 2015 by 2 times,generating 262 million kWh. Solar power plants increased production by 85%,to 86.8 million kWh.Bioelectric power plants increased energy production 4 times, to 1.9 million kWh. The installed capacity of small hydropower plants increased by 14%and amounted to 139.9 MW in 2016. Wind farm capacity increased by 37%, to 98.2 MW,solar power station by 0.4%, to 57.3 MW.WPS capacity remained the same –0.4 MW.According to the action plan for the development of alternative and renewable energy, 106 renewable energy facilities with a total capacity of 3054.55 MW will be operating in Kazakhstan by 2025. In 2017-2018, another 18 wind farms,13 hydro power plants and 7 solar power plants will be commissioned. The transition to the green economy is also taken into account in the expenditures of the republican budget. RB expenditures on renewable energy and the environment are increasing sharply. Over the past year,RB allocated a total of 299 million tenge with an increase of 51% by 2015. 137 million tenge was allocated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as a year earlier. According to the plan,in 2016,the maximum amount of greenhouse gas emissions relative to 1990 should not exceed 83%. The final result amounted to 313 million tons of CO2-eq. Or 80.5%of the 1990 level.Meanwhile,the expenses of the RB for the fuel and energy complex are annually reduced by an average of 13%.In 2016,expenditures on the fuel and energy sector amounted to 63 billion tenge with a decline of 21%by 2015.

4 Conclusion

Thus, a “green” economy is a strategic direction for the development of both the global economy as a whole and the EAEU countries. One of the priority areas of environmental relations of the EAEU states is the creation of normative acts that allow to unify and harmonise environmental legislation,including the development of the“green” economy. In modern conditions, sustainable development is the only acceptable concept of development. The transition to it involves the phased restoration of natural ecosystems to a level that ensures economic efficiency, social justice and environmental sustainability. The main tool for sustainable development of the country is the “green” economy. In modern conditions, sustainable development is the only acceptable concept. The transition to sustainable development involves the phased restoration of natural ecosystems to a level that ensures economic efficiency, social justice and environmental sustainability. The main tool for sustainable development of the country is the green economy.

For the transition to the green economy in the Republic of Kazakhstan, a number of prerequisites and conditions have been set: a strategic planning system based on the use of sustainable development indicators is introduced; the Strategy “Kazakhstan – 2050” is adopted. The new political course of the state, which set clear guidelines for building a stable and effective model of the economy based on the country’s transition to the “green” path of development; the “Concept on the transition of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the green economy”was adopted, the implementation of which is designed to modernise the economy and ensure energy efficiency. It is very important that further reforms and government decisions on the formation of a national economic policy will be based on the concepts of sustainable development and the green economy.