Kazakhstan is developing a national blue finance framework to bring private capital into its water sector, and PAGE is supporting the design of its first elements. In September, those elements were presented to government bodies, water-sector institutions, and financiers that will use them. A market analysis, a survey of the water sector’s social and labour needs, and draft guidelines for issuing blue bonds were discussed with stakeholders in Astana on 8 September and reviewed by a panel at the Astana Finance Days 2026 on 10 September.
This work builds on a long-standing collaboration with Kazakhstan. Since 2018, PAGE has supported green economy reforms, including the Strategy on Achieving Carbon Neutrality by 2060, the Environmental Code and a law on sustainable public procurement. The country has also built up its own sustainable finance infrastructure: a green taxonomy adopted in 2022, more than US$500 million in green bonds issued in 2024, and a new Water Code in preparation. Since 2025, the partnership has put blue finance at its central focus, with a plan to assess its potential, provide guidelines for blue bond issuance, develop a national blue taxonomy, build market participants’ capacity, and pilot the country’s first blue bond.
Blue finance matters because Kazakhstan’s water sector needs more investment than public budgets can provide. The country could face a water deficit of 12 to 15 billion cubic metres by 2040, and modernizing irrigation, municipal supply and wastewater infrastructure needs an estimated US$1 to 1.5 billion of investments per year. Blue finance gives the country a route to bring private capital for these investments.
