Int'l community should enhance support for mountainous countries vulnerable to climate change - Kyrgyz president

BISHKEK. Nov 13 (Interfax) - Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov has called on the international community to step up support for mountainous countries where glaciers are melting due to climate change.

"There are no countries able to cope with climate change challenges on their own. Kyrgyzstan calls on the international community to intensify support for mountainous countries, which are most vulnerable to climate change despite their minimal contribution to global emissions of greenhouse gases," Japarov was quoted by his press service as saying in his speech at the 29th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, COP29, in Baku on Wednesday.

Amid climate change, residents of mountainous regions have to encounter challenges such as extreme weather conditions, natural disasters, low agricultural productivity of land, communication isolation, and limited access to social and economic services, Japarov, said, adding that all this hinders their development and leads to a rise in poverty.

"Today, climate change is having a particularly negative impact on our glaciers, water resources, agriculture and people's day-to-day life in general. Kyrgyzstan's glaciers are melting at an unprecedented speed, and the glacier area has shrunk by 1,262 square kilometers, or 16% of the whole area, over the past 50-70 years. If this trend persists, a considerable amount of glaciers may disappear by the end of the century. This is not just statistics. Rather, this is an immediate threat to the life and wellbeing of millions of people who depend on glaciers as a source of fresh water," he said.

Japarov also called on countries to join the Declaration on Climate Change, Mountains and Glaciers, a political document meant to draw the international community's attention to the problem of mountains and glaciers.

"The current view on the problem of mountains and glaciers and their environmental significances needs to be changed on a global scale, in-depth studies of the impact of climate change on mountain ecosystems should continue, including within an intergovernmental group of experts on climate change," he said.