Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) —  At a high-level meeting held in Baku as part of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29), focused on "green" urban transport, Uzbekistan’s First Deputy Minister of Transport Mamanbiy Omarov presented the country’s achievements in this area.

In his speech, he emphasized the importance of decarbonizing urban transport to create sustainable urban mobility—one of the most pressing global challenges of today.

Building on the National Environmental Protection Concept until 2030 and the Green Economy Transition Strategy (approved in 2019), Uzbekistan has set an ambitious goal: by 2030, 80% of the public transport fleet will be switched to environmentally friendly transport.

As part of implementing this strategy, 320 electric buses were introduced to Tashkent last year, and 14 to Samarkand.

According to experts, replacing one diesel bus with an electric bus can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70 tons annually.

As a result, the use of around 330 electric buses in Uzbekistan’s two largest cities last year helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 23,000 tons.

According to Omarov, this has had a significant positive impact on air quality and public health.