Ecology Ministry removed from government structure and turned into an independent committee

Under the decision, the Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change is withdrawn from the Cabinet system and reconstituted as the National Committee on Ecology and Climate Change, with its existing staff structure preserved.

The committee will report directly to the President of Uzbekistan.

At the same time, the Tourism Committee, which previously operated under the ministry, is separated and re-established as the Tourism Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The Forestry Agency, Uzhydromet, and the Waste Management Agency will remain under the jurisdiction of the Ecology Committee.

The committee’s day-to-day activities will be led by the President’s Adviser on Ecology, who also serves as chair of the National Committee on Ecology and Climate Change. Aziz Abduhakimov, who had been serving as Minister of Ecology, has been appointed to this position.

Four deputy chairs of the Ecology Committee will be appointed and dismissed by the president. Their status, remuneration, medical services, and transport entitlements will be aligned with those of the deputy presidential advisers.

The committee will carry out its activities independently of all state bodies and officials, and any interference by such officials in its work is prohibited.

Until relevant amendments are introduced, the Ecology Committee will temporarily assume the Cabinet of Ministers’ powers in the field of environmental protection as stipulated in secondary legislation.

The committee’s regional branches and district (city) departments will not be part of local executive authorities. They will operate independently and report directly to the Ecology Committee.

It should be recalled that under a presidential decree adopted on 21 October 2025, seven ministries, including the Ecology Ministry, were to transfer their district branches in 41 districts and four cities to the structures of local administrations on a pilot basis. Under the latest decision, ecology departments are excluded from this list.