At Astana Finance Days on June 29, 2022, during the First Green Hydrogen Forum, an Agreement was signed on the establishment of the Green Hydrogen Alliance of Kazakhstan, which was joined by AIFC Green Finance Centre, represented by CEO Aidar Kazybayev. The Alliance brings together the main national and foreign players in the hydrogen industry and aims to propel Kazakhstan's potential in the production of a new resource for the country - green hydrogen.
The Green Hydrogen Alliance of Kazakhstan established at the Forum under the auspices of Task Force AIFC and Kazakh Invest, along with AIFC Green Finance Centre, included Kazakhstani companies and the world's leading companies, such as Fortescue Future Industries, Linde, Qazaqgaz, Svevind, Green Spark and others.
Kazakhstan has unique natural and climatic conditions affording it a comparative advantage for developing renewable energy production and implementing government projects in green hydrogen (including investment projects). According to independent studies, Kazakhstan is among the top ten countries in terms of green hydrogen export potential that can make an important contribution to the decarbonization of its economy.
At the ceremony for signing of the Agreement on the establishment of the Alliance,
CEO of AIFC Green Finance Centre Aidar Kazybayev noted that the Centre he leads, as well as its subsidiaries, Green Technology Hub and the Eurasian Environmental Fund, will assist in attracting and implementing projects in green hydrogen, including the transfer of green technologies, the issuance of green bonds and green lending. The Green Finance Centre will act as a one-stop shop for all AIFC services and its ecosystem. He also proposed to combine the efforts of the Alliance and the National ESG Club (it was formed a day earlier) to decarbonize the economy of Kazakhstan and hold the first ESG Global forum in October this year on the eve of COP-27.
The general sponsor of the Astana Finance Days 2022 conference is Eurasian Resources Group (ERG).
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The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) is an independent jurisdiction that started operations in 2018. In accordance with the Development Strategy until 2025, the key focus of the AIFC is to consolidate as a universal platform connecting the countries of the EAEU, Central Asia and the Caucasus.
The AIFC Green Finance Centre is a subsidiary organisation of the AIFC Authority and the Eurasian Development Bank, aimed at introduction and development of sustainable finance instruments and attracting of investments in environmental and social projects in Kazakhstan and Central Asia.
The AIFC Green Finance Centre supported the very first issuance of green bonds and first verified green loan in Kazakhstan. Also, the Centre introduced definitions of green finance and green taxonomy (a classifier of economic activities and projects that meet technical selection criteria) in the national environmental legislation. The new legislation provides incentives for entrepreneurs who use green finance instruments