Skip to main content

UNFC for Central Asia

UNECE has developed the United Nations Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC) for the sustainable management of national energy and mineral resource endowments. UNFC is an international best practice that provides the efficient tool for resource management by identifying interrelations among the social, economic, technological and physical aspects of a resource base. The UNFC text in use for this Project (UNFC-2009, ECE ENERGY SERIES No. 42) is available in ArabicChineseEnglishFrenchRussianSpanish and Thai.
Central Asian countries are well endowed with natural resources and have a significant growth potential for renewable energies. The adoption and use of UNFC is expected to enable better management of natural resources, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Project is funded by the Russian Federation.

Project title:


Improving national capacities of Central Asian countries to harmonize and implement an internationally applicable system of classification and sustainable management of energy and mineral resources.

Duration:


October 2017 - September 2019

Beneficiary countries:


Central Asian economies: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Objective:


The aim of the project was to improve national capacities of Central Asian countries to harmonize and implement an internationally applicable system of classification and management of energy and mineral resources.
The project was targeted towards government policy-making organs such as the relevant ministries and institutions like the national geological surveys and universities and is expected to enable better management of natural resources.
The objectives of the project were achieved through the following activities:
  • Assessment reports on the status of energy and mineral classification systems in the project countries
  • A sub-regional workshop to validate the assessment reports and to develop policy recommendations for adoption of UNFC to countries’ national regulatory framework
  • Case studies on application of UNFC to energy and mineral resources
  • A concluding workshop to discuss the case studies and follow-up actions to implement policy recommendation on application of the national UNFC systems.

Main Activities of the project were implemented by September 2019 as required. Additionally, the donor approved the plan to use the unspent funds of the project to bring experts from Central Asia to a training session during the UNECE Resource Management Week in April 2020. As this event and the training were postponed and the travel of experts were cancelled due to COVID-19, a cost-neutral extension of the project up to 31 December 2020 was granted by the donor to undertake additional UNFC case studies and develop a synthesis report (the activity is completely in line with the goals and objectives of the project).

Expected results of the project:


Improved national capacities to develop national system for classification and sustainable management of all energy and mineral resources based on the UNFC.
Improved knowledge and skill of national stakeholders to apply UNFC for energy and mineral resource projects.
Events

UNFC Workshop: Harmonization of approaches in the assessment of mineral reserves and resources (Moscow, Russian Federation, 30 - 31 May 2018)

UNFC Central Asia Workshop (held 30 April at the sidelines of UNECE Resource Management Week 2019)

Round table on increasing the investment potential of the BRICS and Central Asian countries through UNFC and UNRMS (Tyumen, Russian Federation, 17 September 2019)

Assessment Reports
Document ENG  
Assessment Report on Classification of Energy and Mineral Resources and its Management in the:
Republic of Kazakhstan PDF  
Kyrgyz Republic PDF  
Republic of Tajikistan PDF  
Republic of Uzbekistan PDF  
Case Studies
Document ENG RUS
Case Study of the Application of UNFC to Energy and Mineral Resources in the:
Republic of Kazakhstan PDF  
Kyrgyz Republic PDF  
Republic of Tajikistan PDF  
Republic of Uzbekistan PDF  
Annual Progress Report
Annual Progress Report 2017
Annual Progress Report 2018

Synthesis report prepared under the UNECE project ECE-E298 “Improving national capacities of Central Asian countries to harmonize and implement internationally applicable system of classification and sustainable management of energy and mineral resources”: Assessment of Energy and Mineral Resource Endowments in Central Asia: Application of the United Nations Framework Classification for Resources