DUSHANBE, 29.05.2025 (NIAT Khovar) – Today in Dushanbe, pre-conference forums and parallel cultural events will commence as part of the High-Level International Conference on Glaciers’ Preservation, scheduled from May 29 to 31.

The conference is held within the framework of the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation, proclaimed on the initiative of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Leader of the Nation, Honorable Emomali Rahmon.

The program includes eight thematic forums, eighteen side events, twelve thematic sessions, a Glacier Festival, an international exhibition, and two plenary sessions.

Pre-Conference Forums Include:

• Agriculture in the Era of Glacier Retreat — discussing methods to combat droughts and floods through carbon sequestration and enhancing resilience in glacier-dependent mountainous regions.
• Children and Youth Forum on Glaciers’ Preservation — a platform for young people to exchange views and initiatives.
• Regional Forum on Glaciers and Cryosphere Monitoring in Central Asia — focusing on scientific cooperation and knowledge sharing.
• From the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation to the Decade of Action for Cryosphere Sciences (2025–2034) — launching a global agenda for cryosphere research.
• Ministerial Dialogue — a high-level platform to discuss climate resilience strategies, glacier preservation, and water cooperation, with ministers and key international partners enhancing political will and coordinating responses to accelerated glacier melt and regional water security challenges.
• Forum on Strengthening Transboundary Cooperation for Water and Climate Resilience in Glaciers-Dependent Basins of Central Asia — addressing data sharing, joint monitoring, and coordinated policy-making for cryosphere resource preservation.
• Forum on the Role of Cryosphere Monitoring in Sustainable Water Management in Central Asia — exploring how glacier and snow cover data supports informed water allocation decisions amid climate instability and increasing water scarcity.
• Women’s Forum on Glaciers’ Preservation — highlighting women’s contributions to environmental protection and climate action, focusing on sustainable resource use and local initiatives for climate adaptation, especially in vulnerable mountain communities.

Today in Dushanbe, parallel events will also take place, including discussions on Tajikistan’s cryosphere research achievements and prospects, a roundtable on decentralized sanitation solutions integrating policy, technology, and practice, adaptation and resilience to glacier hazards, risks related to glacier melt and adaptive strategies, science and glaciers with a focus on global significance, scientific diplomacy for glaciers’ preservation and transboundary ecosystem resilience, media and social media’s role in glacier study and conservation, isotopes and innovative glacier research technologies, the application of modern scientific methods in glaciology, and side events on water security and climate resilience organized by the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS).

Other key discussions include a regional dialogue on water resource sustainability amid climate change, catalysts for global glaciers’ resilience actions, international initiatives for glacier protection, migratory bird routes connecting the Third Pole and Central Asia, combating super-pollutants to save glaciers, stereoscopic water resource monitoring in Tajikistan, sustainable water use strategies, rational water management development, population mobility and climate change priorities in mountainous areas, carbon markets as tools for monetizing sustainability, and climate science research and inventory.

This evening, the cultural program “Call of the Glacier” will take place at the waterfall square near the capital’s Navruzgah complex.

Residents and guests of Dushanbe will have the opportunity to explore a folk crafts exhibition featuring embroidery, weaving, jewelry, pottery, bakery products, and national cuisine.

The cultural program will also showcase traditional Tajik songs and dances performed by leading national ensembles.

Pakistani Prime Minister, vice presidents from Iran, Zimbabwe, Gambia, and the Maldives, deputy prime ministers from Azerbaijan, Lesotho, and Bulgaria, twelve foreign ministers, and heads of UN bodies including WMO, UNESCAP, UNICEF, and the UN Special Representative for Water Affairs have confirmed participation. The event will also welcome the Secretary-General of the CIS, the Secretary-General of the SCO, and leaders of 24 other regional organizations. Around 2,500 participants from over 80 countries have registered.

The conference is expected to mark a significant milestone in forging international solutions for glacier preservation and climate change mitigation, issues that grow increasingly urgent each year.

The conference takes place under the auspices of the International Year of Glacier Preservation, declared on the initiative of the President of Tajikistan, Leader of the Nation, Honorable Emomali Rahmon.