Policy Brief on Regional cooperation is key for overcoming climate challenges along water-agriculture-energy nexus in Central Asia

Water is a scarce and unevenly distributed resource in Central Asia with a significant transboundary context. The transboundary links are particularly strong in the region’s south, where most river runoff originates in the highlands of Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic, while the bulk of water withdrawals occur in irrigated plains of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and southern Kazakhstan. However, the reliance on water resources across the upstream and downstream states has contrasting patterns. Due to the absence of fossil fuel reserves, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan obtain more than 90% of their electricity from hydropower.