Promoting just transitions for an environmentally sustainable economy in Kyrgyzstan

Through building the capacity of key stakeholders in the world of work, this RBSA intervention seeks to enhance the environmental sustainability, productivity and competitiveness of enterprises through promoting the greening of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and their integration into the circular economy and global value chains.

Background

According to the findings of the ILO report Greening Enterprises: Transforming processes and workplaces, the legal and policy context of Kyrgyzstan demonstrates a strong commitment to environmental regulation and processes are underway to tailor these commitments to the world of work. In a country where individual entrepreneurs and micro and small businesses account for around 91% of total employment, providing dedicated support to greening MSMEs would serve as an important entry point to further Kyrgyzstan’s efforts to promote a just transition at the meso- and micro-levels. In Kyrgyzstan, one of the main barriers that constrains MSME growth is the sparsity of targeted programmes supporting MSME development. In order to strengthen Kyrgyzstan’s efforts in promoting the greening of enterprises, the ILO is implementing the intervention “Promoting just transitions for an environmentally sustainable economy in Kyrgyzstan”. Through building the capacity of key stakeholders in the world of work, the intervention seeks to enhance the environmental sustainability, productivity and competitiveness of enterprises through promoting the greening of MSMEs and their integration into the circular economy and global value chains. Given the importance of MSMEs to Kyrgyzstan’s economy, this intervention targets MSMEs and addresses their specific challenges through a tailored training programme that enhance their environmental sustainability, productivity and competitiveness. One of the key components of the project is to promote a just transition for MSMEs through training on the SCORE4Climate module. SCORE4Climate is a training module from the ILO Sustaining Competitive and Responsible Enterprises (SCORE) programme that improves productivity and working conditions in MSMEs through practical classroom training and in-factory consulting. The Training demonstrates best international practice in the manufacturing and service sectors and helps MSMEs to participate in global supply chains.

Expected results:

• MSMEs adopt measures to improve productivity, and gender responsive environmental sustainability, which enable them to integrate into the circular economy and enhance access to global supply chains.
• Knowledge and good practices on promoting a Just Transition for MSMEs through training on the SCORE4Climate module is available to key national stakeholders.
• Capacity of local Knowledge Intensive Business Service (KIBS) and SCORE trainers strengthened to independently promote and deliver training on the SCORE4Climate module
• Company-based management-worker taskforces for greening enterprises (enterprise level) established and promoted.