Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 7 October 2025 – The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM) joined Uzbek leaders and international partners today at the 2nd Green Buildings Forum in Tashkent, spotlighting the rapid progress of cities developing Climate Action Plans (CAPs) and new initiatives to translate plans into concrete projects. GCoM reaffirmed its support to cities across Uzbekistan in cutting emissions and building resilience, through technical assistance, alignment with national strategies, and partnerships that bring global expertise to the local level. The forum underscored that cities like Guzar, Namangan, Nukus, and Urgench, all GCoM signatories that have recently completed their CAPs, are now moving from planning to implementation with help from GCoM and allies.

In line with Uzbekistan’s national Green Economy Strategy 2019–2030, which aims to double energy efficiency and cut the carbon intensity of GDP by 10% from 2010 levels, and the recently adopted Law on Energy Efficiency, local Climate Action Plans are ensuring city efforts contribute to national goals.

Since 2022, GCoM with the financial support of the European Union and in close cooperation with Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Economy and Finance have helped city authorities measure their CO2 emissions and design evidence-based CAPs for sustainable development with the support of GCoM. These plans localize Uzbekistan’s climate commitments under the Paris Agreement and green growth strategies. “Over the past two years, five Uzbek cities have moved from signing climate commitments to delivering their own Climate Action Plans, plans that are realistic, ambitious, and locally owned,” said Piero Remitti, Co-Managing Director of the Global Covenant of Mayors. “The CAPs are fully aligned with national priorities, and now we must help cities overcome practical obstacles, such as limited technical capacity and financing, to turn those plans into real projects,” Remitti added, reaffirming GCoM’s commitment to bridge the gap from planning to implementation.

Backed by EU financial support, GCoM has helped Uzbek cities identify priority actions like boosting building efficiency and renewable energy, in harmony with national policies. The forum also showcased collaboration with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and GIZ: IFC’s new Green Building Design Competition, whose winners were announced at the event, is spurring innovative eco-friendly architecture in Uzbekistan, while GIZ, through its CCFLA Central Asia Hub program, is preparing the ground for building refurbishment implementation.

Pending final approval, a coordinated action between two GIZ programs, FELICITY II and the City Climate Finance Gap Fund, is getting ready to prepare detailed project preparation studies for selected public buildings under the GCoM program in Uzbekistan. These studies will support Uzbek cities in accessing international concessional financing for energy efficiency investments in the public sector. As part of this collaboration, the GIZ teams have engaged with the World Bank’s CEBU team to coordinate on all key criteria, with the intention of integrating the initiative into World Bank CEBU’s broader project pipeline. This approach aims to ensure further scalability and alignment with national regulations and programs.

GCoM expert Bilyana Chobanova noted the importance of these initiatives for implementation. “Additional technical assistance through detailed designs and an affordable loan program for energy efficiency is exactly what cities need to kick-start retrofits of public buildings, identified in their Climate Action Plans,” Chobanova said, referring to the FELICITY II facility. “By connecting local projects with global finance, we’re turning plans into concrete results.” These partnerships with the EU, GIZ, the World Bank Group and others bring vital expertise and financing tools to support Uzbek cities’ climate projects.

GCoM’s technical assistance on the ground is already yielding results. The GCoM team conducted energy audits for 35 public buildings across five Uzbek cities, providing data that city governments can use to plan upgrades, and that investors can trust when funding green renovations. This data-driven approach is helping bridge the gap between plans and bankable projects.

The forum featured a matchmaking session connecting city project proposals with international climate financiers, demystifying the funding process and building local capacity to access climate finance. By equipping city officials with know-how, from drafting solid project ideas to navigating donor requirements, GCoM and its partners are ensuring that well-intentioned plans turn into on-the-ground progress.

The Tashkent Green Buildings Forum, co-convened by the IFC, GCoM, GIZ and Uzbek authorities, brought together over 90 participants including mayors, ministry representatives, and international experts to accelerate climate action in buildings. Topics ranged from strengthening building codes and insulation standards to financing solutions for net-zero carbon buildings.

The event concluded with a strong call to continue city-level climate work: organizers announced follow-up support to help additional Uzbek cities adopt CAPs (beyond the initial five) and a new online training course, developed with GCoM input, to build local expertise in green building project preparation. GCoM’s involvement in Uzbekistan is part of a broader regional effort that has supported 16 cities in Central Asia in developing climate plans and early-stage projects. As Central Asian cities strive to modernize infrastructure and meet climate commitments, GCoM and its partners remain committed to helping them move from planning to implementation, one green building at a time.