Speaking at the Third Meeting of Water and Climate Coalition Leaders in Dushanbe, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon noted on June 4 that an integrated system of water and climate solutions is very important for Tajikistan, as water resources play a key role in the sustainable development of our country.
However, currently, these vital resources are under a severe impact of the climate change, though Tajikistan is not among the industrial countries and 98% of our electricity is generated by hydropower facilities with the use of renewable and environment-friendly resources, the head of state noted.
Touching upon the situation with water supply in Central Asia, Rahmon note that, “While in the 60s of the last century water supply per capita in the region was more than 8.000m3 per annum, today this figure has decreased by four times.”
According to him, the dynamic increase in the regional population is another factor related to this process.
In his speech, the president also drew attention of the meeting participants the issue of the development of the hydropower sector, “which is the generator of "green energy."
Citing the World Hydropower Association, Tajik leader noted that strengthening this sector, along with economic development, could also play a key role in adapting to the consequences of climate change.
“The report highlights that world needs around an additional 850 GW of new hydropower to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius. More than 1,200 gigawatts of additional hydropower would be needed to limit temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees Celsius,” said Rahmon. “Currently, design and construction of hydropower plants with the capacity of 600GW is ongoing and more than 600GW of additional hydropower will be needed.”
Concerning the construction of the Roghun hydroelectric power plant (HPP), he said that along with generating green and affordable electricity, this plant with the capacity of 3600 MW will also make a significant contribution to sustainable water management by reducing the risk of floods, droughts and greenhouse gas emissions.
“Experts estimate that if 17 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity generated by the Roghun HPP were generated by coal-fired power plants, CO2 emissions would be more than 13.7m tons, and it would be 9.9m tons in case of oil and more than 6.7m tons in case of natural gas,” said the president. “Thus, Roghun will make a significant contribution to reducing carbon emissions.”
He expressed confidence that the Coalition will continue to pay attention to this issue given its importance in comprehensively addressing the water and climate issues.
