By 2100 Kyrgyzstan may lose up to 98% of glaciers – prime minister

Bishkek, Nov. 11, 2019. / Kabar /. By 2100, Kyrgyzstan may lose up to 98% of glaciers, Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic Mukhammedkalyi Ablygziev told during the international donor conference in Bishkek.

He noted that environmental disasters and global climate change pose a great threat to humanity today.

“These challenges of the time did not arise today or yesterday. Solving separately economic and social problems within the framework of their states and communities, mankind has become a hostage to global processes of a planetary scale,” he said.

The head of government named the main problems of the global format. In particular, he noted that intensive economic development led to overproduction and depletion of the planet’s natural resources. Also, the large-scale introduction of modern technologies in production has generated unemployment and mass migration of people, and the unfair distribution of national income has led to widespread poverty in many countries of the world.

“But the greatest threat to humanity today is environmental disasters and global climate change. Almost all countries of the world and every inhabitant of the planet are experiencing the consequences and danger of such a phenomenon. These challenges pose a serious threat to Kyrgyzstan. You know that in our country 6516 glaciers are located, the total area of ​​which is 8 thousand square kilometers, or 4% of the entire territory of Kyrgyzstan. This is the main wealth and future of the country. At the same time, global warming has led to the fact that over the past 30 years, Kyrgyzstan has lost 25% of the glaciers, under this set of circumstances, the country could lose up to 98% of glaciers by 2100,” he said.

In this regard, the Prime Minister stated that this is not only a problem of Kyrgyzstan, it is a problem of the entire Central Asia and entire world community.

“Despite the fact that Kyrgyzstan expressed its commitment to sustainable development by promoting the priorities of the green economy, the main share of responsibility for the future, I believe, lies with the leading industrialized countries of the world,” Abylgaziev said.

The prime minister said that today everyone needs to solve the main issue: economic growth should not be accompanied by intensive use of natural resources, but, on the contrary, would provide reliable protection of the ecology and the environment.

“In this regard, the Kyrgyz Republic, adhering to the global principles of environmental protection, has adopted the Concept “Kyrgyzstan is a country of green economy”. We have also ratified the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. I am deeply convinced that this step will allow us, together with development partners, to develop an effective national system for the implementation of this agreement. The Government of the Kyrgyz Republic established a Climate Finance Center with an annual budget of EUR 900 thousand. Here, our partner is the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. In addition, the government approved the Green Economy Development Program in the Kyrgyz Republic for the period until 2023,” he said.