In 2025, economic entities in Kazakhstan allocated 813.3 billion tenge to environmental protection. This is almost 1.8 times more than in 2024, when expenditure stood at 456.1 billion tenge. At the same time, air pollution data do not make it possible to draw a clear link between increased spending and an improved environmental situation.
WHAT THE FUNDS WERE SPENT ON
According to Politprosvet.kz, in 2025 economic entities in Kazakhstan allocated 813.3 billion tenge to environmental protection.
Almost 40% of this sum — 324.7 billion tenge — went to other areas of environmental activity. This category included, in particular, 179.3 billion tenge for renewable energy sources and 127.5 billion for energy-saving technologies.
A further 179.3 billion tenge was directed by enterprises to waste management, and 160.9 billion to protecting atmospheric air and combating climate change. Wastewater treatment accounted for 103.8 billion tenge, while protection and restoration of soils, groundwater and surface water received 31.5 billion.
In other words, the total of 813.3 billion tenge includes not only expenditure directly aimed at combating air pollution, but also investment in other environmental areas.
WHICH REGIONS SPENT THE MOST
Enterprises in Aktobe Region spent the most on environmental protection — 146.5 billion tenge, compared with 63.5 billion a year earlier. Next came Turkistan Region (123.7 billion tenge) and Karaganda Region (97.5 billion). Together, these three regions accounted for 45.2% of all environmental spending in the country.
The top five also included Atyrau Region (91.2 billion tenge) and Pavlodar Region (72.1 billion). The least was spent by enterprises in Zhetysu Region (2.1 billion tenge), Almaty Region (2.8 billion) and Astana (3.5 billion). In Almaty, expenditure stood at 10.4 billion, and in Shymkent — 19 billion tenge.
In Turkistan Region, the increase was particularly sharp: a year earlier, expenditure stood at 3.7 billion tenge. However, expenditure in 2025 reached only 3.5 billion, which points to the significant role of investment projects in the overall figure.
WHICH LOCALITIES RECORDED HIGH POLLUTION LEVELS
According to Kazhydromet data for the first half of 2026, low pollution levels were recorded in 27 localities, elevated levels in 24, high levels in 13, and very high levels in 5.
Very high pollution levels were recorded in Karaganda, Abai, Zhezkazgan, Petropavlovsk and the village of Shubarshi in Aktobe Region. A further 13 localities, including Almaty, Aktobe, Atyrau, Oskemen, Temirtau, Pavlodar and Astana, were classified as having high pollution.
Over six months, Kazhydromet recorded 337 cases of high air pollution. The most were in Karaganda (244), followed by Shubarshi (54), Atyrau (25), Petropavlovsk (11) and Zhezkazgan (3).
DO EXPENDITURES MATCH POLLUTION LEVELS
In a number of regions, high environmental spending coincides with high pollution levels. In Aktobe Region, with expenditure of 146.5 billion tenge, Aktobe has a high pollution level, while Shubarshi has a very high level. In Karaganda Region (97.5 billion tenge), Karaganda falls into the very high pollution category, while Temirtau is high. A similar situation is observed in Atyrau Region (91.2 billion tenge) and East Kazakhstan Region (almost 59 billion tenge).
There are, however, exceptions. In Ulytau Region, with expenditure of 7 billion tenge, Zhezkazgan has a very high and Sатpaev a high pollution level. In North Kazakhstan Region, with expenditure of 9.9 billion tenge, Petropavlovsk also fell into the very high pollution category. In Turkistan Region, by contrast, with expenditure of 123.7 billion tenge, a high level was recorded only in Turkistan, while Kentau and Sastobe were classified as areas with low pollution.
At the same time, a direct link between expenditure and pollution levels cannot be established from these data. The 813.3 billion tenge includes not only measures to improve air quality, but also spending on waste, wastewater treatment, renewable energy, energy-saving technologies and other areas.
