04.04.2025

Distinguished heads of delegations!

Dear participants of the forum!

Ladies and gentlemen!

I cordially welcome you all at our conference dedicated to the key challenge of the present day – the global climate change.

I am sincerely grateful for their attendance to my colleagues – leaders of the European Union and Central Asian countries;

Our reliable partners from the United Nations;

International financial institutions, global and national environmental organizations.

Your participation at this forum is an example of commitment to joint actions in the search for effective solutions to the most pressing issues of sustainable development.

I am convinced that here in the ancient city of Samarkand, which from early centuries has been one of the centers generating new ideas and knowledge, trust and constructive partnership, we can jointly develop efficient measures to address modern climate challenges.

Welcome to Uzbekistan – Samarqandga xush kelibsiz!

Distinguished participants of the forum!

Last year was the first one ever when the average global temperature rose by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. 

The past decade was the hottest period in the entire history of meteorological observations.

As the result, today all of us feel the negative effect of climate crises – growing scales of wildfires and desertification, melting of glaciers, increasing shortage of water resources, air pollution.

I would like to underline, that all of us bear responsibility for the preservation of the environment.  This is the key item of our agenda.

The countries of the region have developed and unanimously approved the Strategy for climate change adaptation in Central Asia.

Uzbekistan is committed to continuing close engagement with all regional partners for practical implementation of common tasks and objectives.

We have also been cooperating successfully with European partners within programs for mitigation of the consequences of drying up of the Aral Sea, sustainable water use, expanding “clean” energy sources. Such partnership makes an important contribution to sustainable “green” development in Central Asia.

There is no doubt that today the European Union is a global leader in facilitating and promoting the issues of combating climate change. We are committed to further deepening practical engagement in this area.

Ladies and gentlemen!

Climate change is inextricably linked to food and energy security.

Fertile lands are rapidly decreasing while the region’s population is growing and in 25 years from now it can surpass 100 million people.

Today, over 20 percent of land in the region is exposed to degradation.

A quarter century later, crop yields may decrease by a third.

In this regard, I believe it is vital for us to combine our scientific potential to increase the adaptation capacity of our forestry and agrarian sectors, as well as strengthen food security as part of HORIZON EUROPE Program.

In order to reduce the area of degraded lands and mitigate the consequences of climat changes, Uzbekistan has been carrying out large-scale greening in the framework of the “Yashil Makon” project. Additionally, over 2 million hectares of the deserted Aral Sea region is now covered with drought-resistant plants.

In this context, I propose to hold a Regional tree-planting campaign “Green Belt of Central Asia” annually on the eve the Navruz holiday.

I am confident that this campaign will turn into a good tradition, a symbol of unity in enduring natural cataclysms. 

Dear participants of the forum!

Uzbekistan has begun transition to resource-efficient and ecologically clean model of economic development.

“Green” energy is one of the key directions in this regard.

We intend to increase the share of renewables to 54 percent in the next five years. This will allow us decrease the greenhouse gas emissions by almost 16 million tons. 

I would like to underline that we will do our best to fast-track the fulfillment of Uzbekistan’s obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 35 percent in accordance with Paris agreement.

At the same time, we are not going to stop there.

We propose to establish the Secretariat of the EU’s “Water-Energy-Climate Change” Initiative in Tashkent to mobilize financing, technologies and competencies.

In addition, as part of the implementation of common strategic objectives, this Forum is going to see the presentation of the Concept of the region’s “green” development.

I am confident, its adoption and the following implementation will create a strong basis for Central Asia’s environmentally-oriented development.

Distinguished members of delegations!

It is estimated that by 2040, with to the reduction of the flows of Amudarya and Syrdarya rivers, the countries of Central Asia will face an “extremely high” level of water stress.

We are already experiencing the consequences of one of the major tragedies – the drying up of the Aral Sea.

In order to ensure sustainable use of water resources, we are paving irrigation networks with concrete, we have established an industrial base for manufacturing water-saving technologies, which have already been implemented on almost half of our irrigated lands (it is almost 2 million hectares). 

These measures enabled us to save over 8 billion cubic meters of water last year.

In this regard, we urge our partners to join the efforts and launch a Regional Program for Implementation of Water Saving Technologies in Central Asia.

We intend to host an International Water Saving Technologies Forum in the Aral Sea region to facilitate an expert level discussion of these issues. 

We also build on close cooperation with the EU as part of the “Copernicus” Program for continuous observation of glaciers and early risk assessment on mountain ecosystems of the region.

The Climate Residence established at the Green University in Tashkent can serve as a common scientific and expert platform to study and monitor the climate processes in Central Asia.

In addition, the Aral Cultural Summit will begin in Nukus tomorrow, to draw attention to environmental problems of our region through the prism of cultural projects.

Dear friends!

In conclusion, I would like to remind a well-known saying which goes as follows: “we do not inherit Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children”. Today, our task is to do our best for our future generations could live on sustainable, safe and prosperous world.

To this end we need to strengthen dialogue, combine the efforts of all countries united by a common noble goal.

Thank you for your kind attention.

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