*Alina Bychkova is a PhD student at Nottingham Trent University (UK). Her doctoral study explores the rhetoric of climate change in Central Asia focusing on the ideological ties in regional environmental policies. She recently published an article on Kazakhstan’s climate policy (with Dr Poberezhskaya, M.) entitled ‘Kazakhstan’s climate change policy: reflecting national strength, green economy aspirations and international agenda’ was recently published in Post-Communist Economies, 1-22.)