Project Overview
The Eurasian Carbon Project is a collaborative initiative designed to support countries of the wider Asian Dryland Belt in exploring and setting up carbon farming and carbon trading solutions. The ADB region encompasses Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Mongolia, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, China (particularly the western regions like Xinjiang), India (especially the northwestern states like Rajasthan). In the first stage, the initiative focuses on supporting Kazakhstan with its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. The largest country in Central Asia, Kazakhstan has vast areas of degraded land of approximately 57 million hectares. These lands present a significant opportunity for carbon sequestration, through which Kazakhstan could enhance its contribution to global climate change mitigation. The project also addresses critical challenges such as land degradation, rural development, and biodiversity loss. The project leverages collaboration of partner institutions including IIASA, the BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre, and TALAP Center for Applied Research, and the support from the Government of Kazakhstan. Our goal is to expand the network of partners in the future and apply the approach and insights from the Kazakhstan case study to other ADB countries and beyond. The Inaugural Meeting in Astana took place on October 3, 2022 to begin the discussions on transforming of underutilized land into carbon sequestration projects in Kazakhstan. This event was followed by the presentation of the "Carbon Farming in Kazakhstan: Unlocking the Opportunity" draft report in 2023 hosted by the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The report was launched at a side event hosted by the Central Asia Pavilion at the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference, or Conference of the Parties (UNFCCC, @COP28) held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in 2024.
What is Carbon Farming?
Broadly, carbon farming refers to a range of land management practices aimed at either sequestering carbon in soils and plant biomass and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector. In our project we focus on the opportunities within agriculture. The goal is to mitigate climate change by capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in soils and biomass, while simultaneously improving the sustainability of agricultural practices.
Some examples of carbon farming techniques include
No-till farming that minimizes soil disturbance, thereby increasing carbon storage within the soil.
Cover cropping that uses crop rotation and cover crops to enhance soil fertility and promote carbon sequestration
Grassland restoration that restores grasslands with deep-rooting species to improve soil health and increase carbon storage potential.
Agroforestry that integrates trees into agricultural landscapes, boosting carbon capture while also providing ecosystem services such as biodiversity conservation and improved water retention.
These techniques are known to have the potential to provide multiple co-benefits, such as improved soil health, increased agricultural productivity, and enhanced biodiversity. In Kazakhstan, carbon farming practices are particularly relevant given the country’s extensive degraded lands. By using these techniques, Kazakhstan can not only contribute to global climate change mitigation, but also improve the resilience of its agricultural systems.
