DUSHANBE, 14.01.2023 (NIAT Khovar) – The global initiatives of the President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon on water and climate were presented at the Voice of Global South online-summit, which was held with the participation of representatives of more than 120 countries, reports the Committee for Environmental Protection.

On January 12, the Chairman of the Committee Bahodur Sheralizoda took a virtual part in the meeting of the Ministers of Environmental Protection entitled “Balancing development with the environment — a safe way of life.”

“Over the past five years, we have witnessed unprecedented global warming, which has led to drought and other natural disasters on a global scale and has had a negative impact on food security and other sectors of our economies. In particular, the melting of glaciers and permafrost has a permanent impact and can accelerate global warming,” noted Sheralizoda.

He further noted that hundreds of millions of dollars of damage is caused to Tajikistan every year as a result of natural disasters, which create problems for states on the path to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and lead to significant loss of life and damage to vital infrastructure.

According to him, another problem with this process is the rapid melting of glaciers. “Because, over the past few decades, more than a thousand glaciers have completely disappeared in Tajikistan. On this basis, the government of Tajikistan has developed and adopted the State Program for the Study and Preservation of Glaciers until 2030. In this context, the Committee established the Center for Glacier Study to monitor the dynamics of glacier melt and collect scientific data under the Agency for Hydrometeorology,” added Sheralizoda.

He reminded the participants that the proposal of the President of Tajikistanto declare 2025 the International Year of Glacier Preservation was supported by the UN General Assembly, and on December 14, 2022, the Resolution was ratified and March 21 is annually celebrated World Glacier Day.

“The linkage between climate change, water, energy and food security is one of the main tools to address this complex issue. This moment is especially important for Tajikistan, since almost 80 percent of agricultural products are produced on irrigated lands, more than 98 percent of the electricity in the country is produced by hydroelectric power plants,” said the Chairman of the Committee said.

He also informed participants that Tajikistan ranks 6th in the world in terms of hydropower production and can serve as a source of “green energy” for the entire region and make a worthy contribution to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Voice of Global South summit was held from January 12 through January 13 under the patronage of the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, within the framework of which 10 meetings, primary and final sessions and 8 meetings of the ministers of the environment of the world states were held.