13 November 2026

Kazakhstan turns to blue finance to fund its water security

Water security is one of Kazakhstan’s stated national priorities, and the country is looking beyond the public budget to help pay for it. In November 2026, the Committee on Agrarian Issues, Ecology and Natural Resources of the Kurultai, Kazakhstan’s Parliament, asked the Government to put a blue finance framework in place, which would enable the country’s first blue bond.

The framework draws on work Kazakhstan has carried out since 2025 with support from PAGE: a draft Blue Taxonomy, Blue Bond Issuance Guidelines, a pipeline of priority projects and preparations for a pilot bond issuance.

A response to a national priority

Kazakhstan could face a water deficit of 12 to 15 billion cubic metres by 2040. To prevent this, the water sector’s investment needs are estimated at USD 1 to 1.5 billion a year.

In his State of the Nation Address on 28 October 2026, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said water scarcity requires systematic and decisive action. He was equally direct on funding:

“The Government must mobilise all sources of long-term financing.”

The President called for new lending mechanisms involving banks, development institutions and international financial organizations, and for a larger role for the capital market.

Parliament asks the Government to act

Nine days later, on 6 November, the Committee held a dedicated meeting on blue finance, joined by Vice Ministers from the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources and the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), UNDP and PAGE. Both Vice Ministers underlined that blue finance instruments need further development.

The Committee decided to prepare recommendations for the Government on:

Designating a government agency to coordinate the development of blue finance

Adopting the national Blue Taxonomy

Improving the regulatory framework

Developing a pipeline of priority projects

Preparing Kazakhstan’s first blue bond issuance

The recommendations are designed to give the Government a stronger basis for coordination across ministries and to move blue finance from design to adoption. They match, point by point, the instruments Kazakhstan has been developing with PAGE, and the Committee Chair thanked PAGE for initiating the work.

What Kazakhstan is building, with PAGE support

Kazakhstan adopted a green taxonomy in 2021 and is now applying that experience to water. Since 2025, the five PAGE agencies have supported the Government in putting in place what a blue finance market needs before a first bond can be issued, each covering one part of the framework.

At the centre is the national Blue Taxonomy, which will define which economic activities qualify as “blue”. UNEP is developing the National Blue Bond Issuance Guidelines and eligibility criteria, with input from specialists at the AIFC Green Finance Centre, setting out how issuers can bring blue bonds to market. UNDP and UNIDO have identified priority investment sectors and assessed opportunities through sectoral analysis, the basis for a pipeline of financeable projects. ILO has examined green jobs and the social dimensions of blue finance, with a focus on vulnerable economies around the Aral and Caspian Seas. UNITAR is preparing a capacity-building programme.

For the water sector, the framework opens a route to capital for priorities such as irrigation, wastewater treatment, water efficiency and digitalization. The aim is a pilot blue bond issuance through the AIFC, with a view to scaling up the approach. PAGE is being consulted as the Committee finalizes its recommendations, and UNDP and PAGE will continue to provide expert and technical support as the Government takes the work forward.

Kazakhstan turns to blue finance to fund its water security

A response to a national priority

Parliament asks the Government to act

What Kazakhstan is building, with PAGE support

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