EUSR`s Speech at Forum no. 7 of the High-Level International Conference on Glaciers Preservation “Towards the Sustainable Water Management in Central Asia: The Role of Cryosphere Monitoring in Water Allocation Decision-Making”

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Your excellency, Minister Juma,

your Excellences,

It is a pleasure for me to be here with you in Dushanbe and to discuss our common approach to protecting glaciers – a topic closely related to regional water management and climate cooperation.

I would first of all like to congratulate Tajikistan on its leading role related to the global water agenda and the topic of glaciers especially now – it is important that we join our efforts.

And I would like to also thank the EU’s co-organisers of this forum from OSCE, GIZ, the German Federal Government and the Tajik Ministry of Energy and Water Resources.

The current complex geopolitical landscape underscores the urgent need for enhanced regional cooperation.

Addressing challenges related to water and climate change requires close cross-border and cross-sectoral collaboration.

To ensure fair distribution of resources and effectively tackle the pressing issues of climate effects and subsequent water scarcity.

Access to clean water and energy is essential for both economic growth and sustainable development, a concern that applies not only to Central Asia but globally.

Climate change is an escalating threat to regional ecosystems, it puts water availability and quality in question

And glaciers are important to this conversation.

Glaciers serve as long-term fresh water reserves, which support both our ecosystems and our society’s livelihoods.

They represent a central part of a stable global water cycle.

And they are therefore especially vulnerable to unsustainable practices and climate change – to an unbalanced water cycle.

We therefore need to urgently coordinate better to achieve a coherent approach to water across all levels.

On a global level, this has to be with a focus on the UN System-wide Strategy for Water and Sanitation and by supporting the UN Special Envoy.

And priority needs like source-to-sea approaches and transboundary basins cooperation are relevant directly in each region and basin.

In the EU we aim to boost resilience through our new Water Resilience Strategy:

by protecting and restoring freshwater ecosystems as regulators of the water cycle,

Through a water-smart circular economy,

And through enhancing research, innovation and technology.

On a local and regional level, we need to implement integrated approaches, which look at all aspects of use and environmental needs along river basins or shared aquifers.

This is needed for us to use resources sustainably across sectors including agriculture and energy production, protect our ecosystems, and also increase our resilience to climate change.

The TRIGGER project, funded by Germany and the EU, looks at this coherent approach.

It looks to improve the enabling environment for Integrated Water Resource Management and supports the sustainable use of water and efficient management of the Tajik water sector.

Both through the understanding of the linkages between glaciers, connected ecosystems and our own use.

And through the application of new technologies to understand climate processes and water availability.

Cryosphere monitoring is a central part of this in basins sourcing its water from glaciers.

It informs on the availability of water and on the changes we need to take into account in the future.

The project has already recorded successes and promising developments and we look forward to also see its findings applied further, both in this region and beyond.

With this important focus, the TRIGGER project also fits in the wider EU engagement on water, energy and climate in Central Asia.

This is a clear priority area of our dedicated Team Europe Initiative, which supports basin and regional cooperation, including in support of EC IFAS. We know from our own experience that the water cycle can only be addressed regionally. Isolated measures do not work.

The EU supports regional solutions, while also looking to share the world-leading expertise we have in areas such as Earth Observation.

Dear colleagues, this forum and the conference present us with opportunities to strengthen our cooperation in water management and cooperation and I look forward to our exchanges.

The EU is and will remain a long-term reliable partner in these endeavours, both in Central Asia and globally.