The Founder of Peace and National Unity, Leader of the Nation, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon took part in the first meeting of High Level Panel on Water and Climate via videoconference.

Virtual meeting was chaired by the Secretary General of the International Meteorological Organization Petteri Taalas, and was also attended by President of Hungary Janos Ader, Chair of UN-Water and President of the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) Gilbert F. Houngbo, heads of government of a number of countries, as well as international experts.

President Rahmon spoke about the current state of Tajikistan’s glaciers. The melting of the world’s largest continental glacier in Tajikistan — the Fedchenko Glacier with more than seventy-five (75) kilometers of length is a vivid example of climate change.

Studies show that in the last 70-80 years alone, the Fedchenko Glacier has retreated by more than 1 km, and has decreased by 44 km2. Moreover, it has lost more than 15 km3 in volume, and the glacier has retreated by 16m per year.

As the glaciers are the main resource for freshwater, their accelerated melting, coupled with an increase in water consumption associated with population growth and economic development, can lead to very adverse effects.

“Unfortunately, the melting of glaciers in the Arctic and Antarctica is causing the sea levels to rise. This, in turn, can pose a threat to the lives and well-being of hundreds of millions of the planet inhabitants, especially in small island states and coastal regions” noted President Rahmon.

In this regard, he proposed to declare 2025 as the International Year for the Preservation of Glaciers, and to determine the date of the World Glacier Day.

Another proposal of the Tajik side is the creation of a special International Fund for Glaciers.

President Rahmon emphasized that these and other related initiatives would give impetus to a new global movement to take the necessary collective action and to protect glaciers from intense melting and disappearance.

According to him, achieving these goals is also impossible without proper cooperation and partnership.

“We are convinced that the International Decade of Action "Water for Sustainable Development, 2018-2028" provides a good platform for uniting the efforts of the world community,” noted President Rahmon.

While speaking about Tajikistan’s presidency in the International Fund for Saving Aral Sea, President Rahmon noted Tajikistan’s rich water resources, their efficient use, and measures related to the prevention of natural hydro and meteorological phenomena as mudflows, floods, droughts, landslides and avalanches, their impact on the economy and the environment, and major financial, economic and even humanitarian crisis caused by COVID-19 pandemic.

Concluding his speech, the President expressed his confidence that the activities of the High-level Panel will contribute to the preparatory process of this important event, and will further facilitate consolidation of the efforts by the world community, particularly political leaders, for more proactive action and adequate measures.