On December 1, the Founder of Peace and National Unity – Leader of the Nation, President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Honorable Emomali Rahmon, participated and spoke at the plenary session of the 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Our head of state expressed gratitude to the United Nations and the Government of the United Arab Emirates, and focused in his speech on the pressing problems of climate change. According to the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, our country, 93% of which is covered by mountains, is one of the most vulnerable countries with respect to the effects of climate change.
As the Leader of the Nation Emomali Rahmon emphasized, natural disasters related to water every year cause great financial and material damage to our republic and in some cases lead to loss of life. The President of the Republic of Tajikistan stated that every year our country faces floods, landslides, avalanches and other natural disasters. To reduce the adverse effects of climate change on the social and economic spheres of the country, the Government of Tajikistan implements the National Strategy of Adaptation to Climate Change until 2030.
Then, Honorable Head of State Emomali Rahmon listed the priorities of Tajikistan in the direction of climate change. The share of Tajikistan in the amount of greenhouse gas emissions is small, and our country ranks 130th in the world due to the small amount of such emissions. That is, thanks to the small amount of this waste, Tajikistan occupies a leading position in the world. As the Leader of the Nation stated, Tajikistan is one of the leading countries on the planet in terms of the large percentage of “green energy” output. In Tajikistan, 98 percent of electricity is produced in hydroelectric power plants, and our country ranks sixth in the world in terms of the percentage of “green energy” generated from renewable sources. The President of the country emphasized that the Republic of Tajikistan is increasing its achievements in this area and in the future aims to double the production capacity of “green energy” as the basis for the development of the “green” economy. For this purpose, according to the Leader of the Nation, the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan has adopted and is in the process of implementing the “Green Economy Development Strategy” for 2023-2037, which is aimed at the productive use of natural resources, attracting funds and “green” technologies.
The head of our state drew the attention of those present to the undeniable fact that climate change will have a negative impact on water resources. The President of the Republic of Tajikistan called the reduction of water resources as a result of the rapid melting of glaciers as one of the main indicators of climate change. The complete melting of 1,000 out of 13,000 glaciers of Tajikistan in the last decade, from which 60 percent of the water resources of our region originate, was highlighted as a prominent evidence of this process.
In his speech, the Leader of the Nation also paid special attention to the initiatives of our state aimed at protecting the sources of water resources. At the initiative of Tajikistan, a resolution of the UN General Assembly was adopted declaring 2025 as International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation and proclaiming March 21 of each year the World Day of Glaciers as well as establishing an International Trust Fund for Glaciers’ Preservation. The President of the country announced the decision of Tajikistan to make its first financial contribution to this Fund. According to our Head of State, the international community and international organizations will also contribute to this Fund.
The President of the Republic of Tajikistan expressed confidence that the international community will contribute to the timely implementation of other goals and commitments related to water. The results of the Second UN Water Conference, which was held in March of this year in New York under the chairmanship of Tajikistan and the Netherlands, were called an important achievement of this process. The Leader of the Nation stressed the readiness of Tajikistan to continue its efforts to develop constructive cooperation in the implementation of the global water and climate agenda.
