Water scarcity becomes increasingly serious constraint on Central Asia’s development — president of Uzbekistan
President of Uzbekistan called on Central Asian countries to jointly address water and climate change issues. “Significant water losses are costing our region far too much,” he said. He also stressed dialogue with Afghanistan and highlighted air pollution as one of the most pressing problems.
Water scarcity is becoming an ever more serious brake on Central Asia’s development, the president of Uzbekistan has said.
Water and climate change issues call for joint solutions from Central Asian states, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said at the eighth Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia and Azerbaijan, held on 8 October in the Avaza National Tourist Zone in Turkmenistan.
“Water scarcity is becoming an increasingly serious constraint on the development of Central Asia. The climate is changing, the population is growing and the pressure on agriculture and infrastructure is increasing. Therefore, we need to have a more accurate understanding of how much water we have and how it is being used,” Mirziyoyev said.
The president stressed the importance of introducing modern digital monitoring systems, upgrading irrigation networks and broadly adopting water-saving technologies.
“Today, significant water losses are costing our region far too much,” the head of state stressed.
He urged the full implementation of the joint initiative to establish a Decade of Practical Action for the Rational Use of Water in Central Asia.
Next year, Uzbekistan will take over the chairmanship of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea. “We regard this role as a great responsibility. During our chairmanship, we intend to make the fund’s work more effective, launch new environmental projects and attract additional funding,” the president said.
According to Mirziyoyev, special attention should be given to dialogue with Afghanistan on water use. “This dialogue should be continuous and substantive, with due consideration given to the interests of all countries in the region,” he said.
The president also said that air pollution is becoming one of the most urgent problems in Central Asian cities. He recalled that Uzbekistan had proposed creating the International Consortium for Clean Air in Central Asia.
“We could launch its activities with a specific joint project: a pilot Program for the Environmental Modernization of Industrial Zones, Agro-clusters and Transport Hubs in our countries. This would allow us to move from discussing the problem to practical action in areas where the environmental burden is particularly high,” the head of state added.