On December 8, 2023, on the margins of the 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-28) in Dubai, UAE, Mr. Sulton Rahimzoda, Chairman of the IFAS Executive Committee, participated in the thematic session “Climate Resilient Approaches to Flood and Drought Management: Transition from Theory to Practice”.
The session was organized by the Asian Development Bank in partnership with the World Bank and the International Hydrometeorological Programme of UNESCO at the Water for Climate Pavilion. The session discussed the need for increased funding for policy, science and technology development for climate change adaptation, with a special focus on flood and drought resilience. Case studies on flood and drought resilience, forecasting opportunities and nature-based solutions were also presented.
At the session, Mr. Rahimzoda delivered the keynote presentation on “Regional Perspective: Climate Resilient Approaches to Flood and Drought Management: Moving from Theory to Practice”. During his presentation, Mr. S. Rahimzoda noted the problem of rapid glacier melting and increasing number of natural disasters, and characterized the damage and financial losses associated with climate change and drought on the example of Central Asian countries. The Chairman emphasized that as a result of frequent droughts in Central Asia (in 2000-2001), the countries of the region lost more than 300 thousand hectares of irrigated land in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya River, which in turn led to financial losses of 578 million USD.
Mr. Rahimzoda also noted the concern of Central Asian countries about the impact of climate change and emphasized the urgent need for urgent targeted measures by the countries of the region to achieve climate resilience.
