With the support and coordination of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the akimat of the city of Astana, in particular the akimats of the Almaty and Yesil districts, the Association of Environmental Organizations of Kazakhstan, the environmental public organization “Let's do it world”, namely “Let's do it Qazaq eli” and the environmental movement "We are for a clean country", as well as with the participation of the ALE "Coalition for a Green Economy and G-Global Development", JSC "Zhassyl Damu", Green Technology Hub, the entire diplomatic corps and international organizations, volunteers and students of ENU , Agrarian University and Nazarbayev University, a large-scale cleaning of the embankment of the Yesil River, as well as the city of Astana, was carried out.

About 150 participants on the right bank of the river, including diplomats and employees of the Embassies of European countries, Asia, Africa, America as well as various UN agencies and other international organizations, cleaned the bank of the Yesil River from garbage, while sorting the waste. Part of the sorted waste was recycled on the site - a crusher for aluminum cans was installed especially for guests, thus reducing the volume of waste for removal: 2 dump trucks of waste and 1 gazelle with plastic and aluminum cans for recycling were removed from the cleaning site.

As a result of this eco-event, a teleconference was organized with the UN Office in New York and Astana: with the participation of Ms. Heidi Solba, President and Head of the global network Let's Do It World and World Clean-up Day, discussed the importance of the action live and demonstrated the event itself.

Also on this day, the results of the Reels competition on Instagram “My most environmental initiative in life” were summed up, the winners received memorable prizes. At the end of the event, participants took part in a flash mob - they lined up on a map of Kazakhstan, which symbolized the participation of the entire country in this event.

According to the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan, during the action in the city of Astana, 56 thousand people participated, over 20 thousand tons of waste were collected, and more than 10 thousand hectares of land were cleared. Including: 915 tons of glass, 1950 tons of plastic, 300 tons of rubber, 860 tons of paper and cardboard and 550 tons of metal.

Akimats of large cities and regions of Kazakhstan supported this environmental campaign:

As part of the visit to the Mangystau region, September 17, 2023, Ambassadors of the European Union, USA, Great Britain, Japan, India, Indonesia, and other countries, and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Roman Vasilenko, First Deputy Akim of the Mangystau region Zhumabai Karagayev took part in an eco-action, organized by the akimat of Mangystau region. Participants cleaned up a beach at the Caspian Sea.

On September 16, 2023, a citywide clean-up campaign was held in Shymkent, organized by the city akimat. In total, 103,089 people took part in this event, and 744.2 m3 of garbage was removed. About 20 thousand people took part in the settlements of the Zhambyl region (10 districts and the city of Taraz).

The Akimat of the Zhetisu region also took an active part in the global action and supported the campaign: 31,934 participants, 883 km of auto-routes, 383 km. ditch networks cleared, 352 units of special equipment were used, 1,802 tons of garbage were removed.

The European Union Delegation to Kazakhstan expresses its deep gratitude to all partners and participants of the World Clean-up Day and the #EUBeachCleanup campaign!

Background information:

The World Cleanup Day is one of the largest global movements that unites millions of volunteers, governments and organizations. More than 14,9 million people for 190 countries participated in the World Cleanup Day on 17 September 2022. On this day volunteers worldwide come together to rid our planet of garbage – cleaning up litter and mismanaged waste from our beaches, rivers, forests, and streets. This world-changing idea began in Estonia, in 2008.

#EUBeachCleanup is an international campaign that encourages people over the world to clean coastal areas and beaches from garbage and waste. The campaign contributes to several Sustainable Development Goals, namely to sustainable consumption and production patterns (SDG 12), to conservation and sustainably use of the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development (SDG 14), and to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss (SDG 15).

#EUBeachCleanup is a more focussed global campaign organised by the EU and the UN to raise awareness about plastic pollution all over the world. In 2022, 416 physical clean-ups took place in 41 countries, on all inhabited continents, over 14,000 people participated removing several tens of tonnes of litter. The event took place in Kazakhstan as well last year.

#EUBeachCleanup #WorldCleanupDay #EUBeachCleanup2023 #EU4GreenKZ #ActNow #ECOREELSKZ