Tajikistan is losing glaciers due to global climate change, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon stated at a parallel event entitled “World Glaciers’ Preservation Action” that took place on the margins of the 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) in Dubai on December 2, according to the Tajik president’s official website.
As a result of climate change, more than 1,000 glaciers have melted in Tajikistan that caused natural disasters such as landslides, floods, droughts and result in enormous damage to the socio-economic sectors of the country, Tajik leader said.
He emphasized that Tajikistan forms about sixty (60) percent of the water resources of Central Asia and the main source of these waters is the region's glacial resources, more than sixty percent of which are located on the territory of Tajikistan.
“Therefore, I consider it necessary to consider the possibility of setting up the regional glacier monitoring and research center in Tajikistan,” Emomali Rahmon said.
Meanwhile, China’s Xinhua news agency reports an initiative to protect the world's glaciers was launched in Dubai on December 3 at the China Pavilion of the COP28 climate change conference.
At the side event of COP28, or the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, delegates and scientists shared their views on the risks of melting glaciers and ways to slow down that process.
A project named "Memory of Glaciers: Global Exploration Initiative" was launched to step up research and protection of glaciers as well as raise public awareness.
Glaciers bear witness to the history of climate change on the planet, and melting glaciers will bring a series of risks aside from rising sea levels, delegates said.
