Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Central Asian counterparts on (a) climate change cooperation and (b) reduction in emissions.

We regularly engage on climate change and reducing emissions in Central Asia, both bilaterally and through multilateral fora. For example, during his visit to Astana in March the Foreign Secretary signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Kazakhstan to encourage collaboration in developing and applying hydrogen technology. The Minister for Europe has also raised climate issues in meetings with interlocutors from Central Asia, and we have dedicated officials based in the region who lead on climate and environmental matters for the UK. We provide funding to a number of projects in the region which aim to improve climate cooperation and reduce the emissions produced by the Central Asian states.