On November 5, a side event “Position of Central Asian Civil Society on Climate Change” was held in Glasgow.
The event was organized in a hybrid format by the Central Asian Climate Network in partnership with the EU “Zhashyl Klimat” project.
Svetlana Mogilyuk of the Central Asian Climate Network presented the Address of Central Asian Civil Society on Climate Change, adopted at a regional meeting of NGOs from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan on October 7, 2021.
It was noted that Central Asian countries are among the group of countries most vulnerable to climate change. The Aral Sea disaster became a vivid example of the region’s unsustainable development. At the same time, climate change is increasingly affecting the lives of tens of millions of people, especially in rural areas.
“Further degradation of ecosystems, growing water scarcity, more frequent droughts and other natural hazards, an intensifying desertification process, declining crop yields and natural hazards require urgent action,” the address states.
Side event participants also noted that Central Asia is a unique eco-region of the planet, home to one of the key centers of biodiversity, and where, more than anywhere else in the world, the strong link between climate change, ecosystem condition and the well-being of the region’s population is visible.
Anna Kirilenko, manager of the “Zhashyl Klimat” project, spoke about Central Asia’s key role as a biodiversity territory and the public’s role in preserving it.
“At last, for the first time in a long while, in Glasgow the two discourses related to climate change and to natural ecosystems and biodiversity have begun to converge,” the expert noted.
The “Zhashyl Klimat” project manager also stressed that only natural ecosystems can stabilize the climate: “Either we overcome the two crises of biodiversity loss and climate change together, or we overcome neither.”
A. Kirilenko also noted that as part of preparing Kyrgyzstan’s Nationally Determined Contributions, a series of public consultations was held, with a total of more than 800 people from all regions of the country taking part.
The “Zhashyl Klimat — Youth Resilience to Climate Change” project is implemented under the general coordination of the Norwegian Society for the Protection of Nature, in partnership with BIOM and GLIP, with the financial support of the European Union.
