“The 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) is the first opportunity for Central Asia to present itself as the single region at this global weighty forum. All five governments of Central Asia will speak in one voice,” Sulton Rakhimzoda, the Chairman of the Executive Committee of The International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) stated at the parallel session “Toward to the UNFCCC COP26: Preparatory Process for Central Asian Countries” of the Central Asia Climate Change Conference held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, 26-27 July 2021.
Opening the parallel session, the Executive Director of the Regional Environmental Center for Central Asia (CAREC), Zafar Makhmudov stressed the importance of the joint regional statement for the UNFCCC COP26 which will present climate issues of the region at the global level.
CAREC is ready to provide the countries of Central Asia with support for the organization of the side events and the pavilion at the COP26 so that the region of Central Asia will jointly display and highlight its progress, challenges and needs for the expertise, innovative technologies and climate financing.
At the parallel session, the participants put emphasis once more on the complex vulnerability of the region of Central Asia to climate change including glaciers melting, population growth, anthropogenic pressure on ecosystems, desertification, water shortages and, as consequence, socio-economic problems.
Preparation and voicing the single regional statement at COP26 are a unique opportunity for Central Asia to demonstrate the unity of opinions on understanding and developing approaches to address climate change issues. In future, this will adopt the economies of Central Asia and make them sustainable.
The participants of the session unanimously agreed that it is necessary to make considerable changes in institutional, political, financial and monitoring systems as well as to enhance coordination of policy and profitability, and involve the stakeholders from the governmental and non-governmental organizations.
Synopsis:
The Conference of Parties, known as COP, is the decision-making body responsible for monitoring and reviewing the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It brings together the 197 nations and territories – called Parties – that have signed on to the Framework Convention. The COP has met annually since 1995. The 21st Session of the COP (COP21), held in Paris, France, in December 2015, was historic in its outcome – the first international climate agreement.