CV

CV Rahat Sabyrbekov

Economist with extensive experience in global research and policy analysis related to climate change.

EDUCATION

01/2014 – 11/2019  PhD in Economics, School of Economics and Business, Norwegian University of Life Sciences,  Norway

10/2006 – 01/2009  Master’s in International Political Economy, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom

08/1999 – 06/2004  MSc in Economics, Bishkek State University, Kyrgyzstan

WORK AND RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

09/2023 - present Visiting Scholar, Davis Center, Harvard University, United States

- Research on climate change and energy

10/2022 – 12/2022  Visiting Research Fellow, Economics, Duke University, United States.

- Joint research projects on environmental economics topics

01/2020 – 12/2022  Post-doc Researcher, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Academy, Kyrgyz Republic.

                                 - research on climate change in the region

                                 - project management

                                 - capacity building for regional policymakers.

Key accomplishments:

                                 - Jean Monnet Grant award

                                 - Climate Change and Decarbonization Pathways forthcoming book

                                 - Regional training on Climate Change Impact and Adaptation Strategies

08/2010 – 12/2020  Assistant Professor, Economics, American University of Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan

-        climate change research and teaching

         Key accomplishments:

-        Diku-funded grant ($750,000)

-        Multiple grants (e.g. UNDP, GIZ, ELD, UNITAR)

-        Matthew Nimetz Award for publications

09/2012 – 12/2019  Project Coordinator, Kyrgyz-Norwegian Cooperation Project,

-        Coordination of international team to achieve research and teaching goals

11/2019 – 04/2020  Economist, analysis for livestock management policies to combat land degradation. Economics of Land Degradation, GIZ Project

-        Research on ecosystem services and cost-benefit analysis

11/2019 – 12/2019  Researcher, cost-benefit analysis for Glacier protection legislation to present at the national parliament

-         Appraisal of national economic policy in natural resource management

07/2019 – 10/2019  Economist, Impact assessment of climate change on livestock sector in Kyrgyzstan. “Identifying low carbon and climate resilient pathways for the ruminant sector in the selected countries of Central Asia”. FAO and UCA.

-        Assessment of economic policy in terms of climate change impact in livestock sector

06/2015 – 06/2018  Fellow and contributing author, Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Bonn, Germany.

-        Assessment of the impact of national economic policies on ecosystems in ECA region, Chapter 4.

 11/2015 – 06/2016  Consultant, Capacity building in Valuation of Ecosystem Services and System of Ecological-Economic Accounts, UNDP.

-        Developing pilot national accounts for statistics office

03/2015 – 12/2015  Consultant-Researcher, Development of Research Projects, Research Center,  National Bank of Kyrgyz                         Republic

-        Research and national economic policy assessment

2013 - 2015             Economist, International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group

                                 - Assessment of private sector development strategy

2010 - 2012             Economist, Capacity Building for Economic Management Project, Ministry of Economy, World Bank Project

-        Macroeconomic policy analysis and capacity building

SERVICE TO THE PROFESSION & MEMBERSHIPS

09/2022 – present   Reviewer for Climate Policy Journal, Cell

06/2020 – present   Member, European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists

10/2022 – present   Member, National Transfer Accounts (NTA) Project

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

·        Climate Change and Decarbonization in Central Asia, with Indra Overland and Roman Vakulchuk, Springer, forthcoming (2022).

·        Know your opponent: Which countries might fight the European carbon border adjustment mechanism? with Indra Overland. Energy Policy, Volume 169, 2022 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2022.113175

·        Transitions from dirty to clean energy in low-income countries: insights from Kyrgyzstan, with Nurgul Ukueva, Central Asian Survey, 38:2, 255-274, 2019 hhtp://10.1080/02634937.2019.1605976

·        Assessment of ecosystem services in Kyrgyzstan. With Kaptagaeva A., Matraimov K., and Surappaeva V.  UN FAO, 2020. https://doi.org/10.4060/ca7476en

·        Income diversification strategies among pastoralists in Central Asia: Findings from Kyrgyzstan. Pastoralism 9, 14 (2019).  https://doi.org/10.1186/s13570-019-0152-x

·        Nature affinity and willingness to pay for urban green spaces in a developing country. With Martin Dallimer, Stale Navrud Landscape and Urban Planning 38:2, 255-274, 2020 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2019.103700 

·        Kyrgyzstan: Eurasian Integration in Doubt in The Russian Crisis and its Fallout The Impact on the Eastern Partnership States and Central Asia, edited Grohe K., Hett  F. https://www.academia.edu/22525041/Kyrgyzstan_Eurasian_Integration_in_Doubt

·        Kyrgyz Exports to Eurasian Economic Union. With Roberto Garcia in Cross-border Exchanges: Eurasian perspectives on logistics and diplomacy, Editors: Chabal P., Nicharapova J. Peter Lang, Enjeux Internationaux, 2019 https://www.peterlang.com/document/1113654

·        Ecosystems of high land pastures. Economics of Land Degradation Initiative (2017)

·        Climate change adaptation: case of the Kyrgyz Republic, 2014, Academic Review. https://review.auca.kg/uploads/docs/2014102323195048990.pdf

·        Analysis of the foreign investment into the Kyrgyz Republic, Institute of Eurasian Studies, University of Tokyo, 2013  

COMPUTER SKILLS:    STATA, Vensim, Python, SPSS, QGIS, InVEST.

LANGUAGES: Kyrgyz (native), Russian (fluent), English (fluent), Turkish (fluent), Spanish (beginner)