Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin heading a Tajik delegation participated in a high-level conference “Green Central Asia” that took place in Berlin on January 28, according to the Tajik MFA information department.
The event was reportedly attended by foreign ministers of Central Asia’s nations, Afghanistan, Germany, the European Union (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/ Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borell Fontelles and other representatives of European Union countries.
In statement delivered at the conference, Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin called upon international community to strengthen cooperation on climate change and its impacts on flora and fauna as well as recalled the Tajik President’s initiative regarding the establishment of the International Glacier Protection Fund, which would help countries in need and affected by the climate change.
Tajik minister also noted the importance of preservation and rational use of water resources in the region and drew the attention of conference participants to the global water initiatives of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, which would contribute to the promotion and implementation of the water related Sustainable Development Goals.
The conference ended with signing of a joint declaration on cooperation in the field of climate and security.
Meanwhile, information posted on the website of Germany’s Federal Foreign Office notes that as part of a preventive and stabilizing foreign policy, the Federal Foreign Office launched Green Central Asia, a regional initiative on climate and security in Central Asia and Afghanistan from 2020. The aim of the initiative is to support a dialogue in the region on climate change and the risks associated with it, thus fostering regional integration between the six countries involved. Green Central Asia will play a part in implementing the new EU strategy on Central Asia which was adopted by the European Council on June 17, 2019. Among other things, this strategy focuses on strengthening countries’ resilience to internal and external risk factors such as climate and environmental factors.
In addition to the high-level Minister segment, the Green Central Asia conference reportedly also included an exchange with academia and civil society. The cooperation between the different players in Germany and on the ground is one of the explicit goals of the project. Its overarching approach is intended to create synergies and bring together expertise from many different areas.
