International initiative of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan for the protection of glaciers

In recent years, the negative impact of climate change on environment has noticeably increased and this process is irreversible. The climate of our planet is changing rapidly and this trend is dangerous – the amount of precipitation and the potential of natural hydrometeorological hazards is growing. Many sectors of the economy, natural ecosystems and public health are becoming more vulnerable to adverse weather patterns and the long-term unsustainable trends of climate change.
To promote climate change adaptation and disaster risk management as well as their consequences on sustainable development, Tajikistan joined the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1997 and signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol in 2008. Tajikistan submitted its first national report on climate change in 2002, subsequent reports in 2008, 2014 and 2015, which have contributed to the implementation of the Convention at the national level. Analysis of these reports strengthens the existing priorities of the Republic of Tajikistan for effective development in the field of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and also determines the country's contribution to climate change mitigation.
At the same time, within the framework of the Paris Agreement, Tajikistan has voluntarily committed not to exceed its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80-90 percent of the 1990s level and in recently developed and submitted its updated Nationally Determined Contribution for greenhouse gas emissions to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
In order to formulate and implement Tajikistan’s policy for adaptation to climate change, a National Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change for the period up to 2030 was adopted in 2019. The adoption of this important document proceeded  from the speech of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, the Leader of the Nation, Emomali Rahmon, at the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-22) in Paris and at the plenary meeting of the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, where he noted that, though the share of the Republic of Tajikistan of emissions of greenhouse gases is on a global scale small, however, Tajikistan is one of the most climatic vulnerable countries of the world to climate change impacts. This is primarily because 93% of its territory consists of mountains and such a natural phenomenon as melting of glaciers, the resulting change in the flow of large rivers and their impact on the growth of agricultural production are the chief negative impacts of climate change in the region.
In this regard, the Strategy identifies four key sectors that are both climate-sensitive and development priorities. They are energy, water resources, transport and agriculture. Based on the above, the National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy also aims to support economic growth and accelerate the modernization of all sectors of the economy.
Today, Tajikistan attaches great importance to deepening international cooperation to improve the environmental situation, both in the country and in the CIS regions, and, taking into account the factors influencing climate change, Tajikistan currently generates 98% of its electricity from hydropower plants and ranks sixth in the world in terms of the percentage of generation and use of green energy. With the construction of new hydropower facilities, in particular the Rogun hydropower plant with the capacity of 3,600 megawatts, our country will elevate its ranking by two points. At the same time, further development of the hydropower potential of Tajikistan may contribute to a substantial reduction of carbon dioxide emissions and make a worthy contribution to providing the countries of the region with ecologically clean electricity, which is one of the foundations of the development of the «green economy».