Mission and History

The «Almaty Air Initiative» is a private foundation dedicated to addressing environmental injustice by bringing together technology, science, creative approaches, and public participation to achieve systemic improvements in air quality in Almaty.

Every person has the right to health and clean air, regardless of their social status, income level, or nationality.

Our Mission

To protect Almaty residents’ right to clean air.

Today, Almaty is a striking example of how the principle of environmental justice is not being upheld. For a significant number of Almaty residents, access to clean air still remains a privilege rather than an absolute right.

This causes significant harm to the health of the city’s residents, including children.

In addition, air pollution negatively affects the city’s economic development. In the global competition for what is perhaps the world’s most valuable asset today — human capital — Almaty is losing ground because air pollution makes it harder to attract talent and investment while accelerating brain drain and the outflow of skilled people. Without action, Almaty risks losing not only the health of its residents, but also its competitiveness.

Our Goal

To make Almaty 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 harmful effects of air pollution in clear, accessible language;

— Responsibility: we act in the interests of people’s health and future generations;

— Collaboration: we bring together the efforts of business, government, science, and citizens;

— Ынтымақтастық: бизнес, билік, ғылым және азаматтардың күш-жігерін біріктіру;

— Long-term thinking: we think about the future and build solutions that will retain their value for decades.

Our History

The Almaty Air Initiative was established in 2024. Its founders, entrepreneurs Arsen Tomsky and Kairat Akhmetov, were struck by how the beauty and uniqueness of Almaty were marred by a persistent veil of smog and the smell of exhaust fumes and soot. Dirty air not only detracts from the experience of the city, but also poses a threat to its residents, including the founders themselves, the employees of their organizations, and their families.

Unwilling to accept the situation, they joined forces and created a foundation dedicated to tackling this environmental problem.
Almaty Air Initiative serves as an independent expert center and develops practical solutions for urban environmental policy, including transport regulation, the introduction of low-emission zones, the energy transition, and the development of smart urban infrastructure.

By integrating advanced technologies and creative formats, AAI builds an evidence base and shapes the public agenda, helping create sustained public demand for better air quality and setting a new pace for the city’s environmental transformation.

The smog problem in Almaty is systemic and nationwide in scale for Kazakhstan. Smog not only causes serious harm to the health of the city’s residents, but also significantly weakens Almaty’s position in the competition to become Central Asia’s leading macro-regional hub — a center of economic development and innovation, and a destination for top talent and major international companies.
We believe that by using highly scalable approaches such as new technologies, science, and the arts; engaging the media, opinion leaders, and experts; and maintaining dialogue with government representatives, we can give powerful momentum to solving the smog problem in the coming years, accelerate progress, and make Almaty’s air clean.

Having developed an effective project framework using Almaty as a model, we intend to apply it in the future to address access to clean air and water around the world. Good luck to all of us!

We are ready to replicate in the environmental field the achievements we have made in road safety through technology. Moreover, I have repeatedly proposed various technical solutions.
Together with a team of like-minded people, we created the Almaty Air Initiative (AAI). The project’s goal is to establish and strengthen the principles of environmental justice throughout Kazakhstan.

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