Mission and History

Private foundation "Almaty Air Initiative" — public organization for combating air pollution in Almaty

Clean air is the key to health, therefore it is an inalienable right of every person, regardless of social status, income level and nationality.

Our Mission

Restore environmental justice — protect Almaty residents’ right to clean air.

In Almaty, dirty air has become something commonplace and constant, although smog is not normal at all. The air pollution problem not only damages the city’s image, but also negatively affects economic development. The environmental situation forces the population to think about moving, and the outflow of personnel will not allow attracting investments to the city and developing infrastructure.

Our Goal

Turn Almaty into a city where clean air is not a privilege, but the norm.

The foundation is not a government organization, but actively cooperates with government agencies, business and public organizations.

Our Principles

Transparency and clarity — we explain the harm of air pollution in accessible language;
Responsibility — we act in the interests of people’s health and future generations;
Innovation — we apply technologies and modern methods of analysis and research to solve the problem and protect against pollution;
Cooperation — we unite the efforts of business, government, science and citizens;
Long-term thinking — we think about the future and build solutions that will retain value for decades.

Our History

The “Almaty Air Initiative” foundation was founded in 2024. The founders – businessmen Arsen Tomsky and Kairat Akhmetov – were struck by the fact that the beauty and uniqueness of the city of Almaty is spoiled by the constant veil of smog and the smell of exhaust fumes and soot. Dirty air not only spoiled the impression of the city, but also created a threat to residents, in particular for the businessmen themselves and employees of their organizations and their families.

Not wanting to put up with the situation, they united and created a foundation aimed at combating the environmental problem.

The smog problem in Almaty is systemic and nationwide for Kazakhstan. Smog not only causes great damage to the health of city residents, but also sharply worsens Almaty’s position in the struggle for the status of the main macro-regional center in Central Asia, a center of economic development, innovation, a point of attraction for the best talents and large international companies.

We believe that through the use of high-scaling systems, such as new technologies, science and arts, involving the media, opinion leaders and experts, through dialogue with government representatives, it is already possible in the coming years to give a powerful impulse to solving the smog problem, accelerate it and the air in Almaty will become clean.

Having developed an effective project framework using the example of Almaty, we intend to use it in the future to solve problems of access to clean air and water around the world. Good luck to all of us!

Those achievements that we have achieved in the field of road safety with the help of technologies, we are ready to repeat in the field of ecology. Moreover, I have repeatedly proposed various technical solutions.

Together with a team of like-minded people, we created Almaty Air Initiative (AAI). The goal of the project is to establish and strengthen the principles of environmental justice throughout Kazakhstan.

We set ourselves the task of implementing the principles of Environmental Justice in our country. And our first major victory on this path should be a significant improvement in air quality in Almaty.