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Uzbekistan calls for wise use of transboundary water resources

Uzbekistan Materials 24 June 2012 08:35 (UTC +04:00)
Critical resource for Central Asian countries is water, the head of the Uzbek delegation, the chairman of the State Committee for Nature Protection, Nariman Umarov, said in his speech at the UN International Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro.
Uzbekistan calls for wise use of transboundary water resources

Uzbekistan, Tashkent, June 23 / Trend D.Azizov /

Critical resource for Central Asian countries is water, the head of the Uzbek delegation, the chairman of the State Committee for Nature Protection, Nariman Umarov, said in his speech at the UN International Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro.

He stressed that for Uzbekistan, where 28 million people live, water resources are the basis for food security.

Speaking about the exceptional importance of water resources for sustainable development of the entire region, he stressed the importance of reasonable and equitable use of transboundary water resources, based on the principles of international water law.

"Water supply of irrigated land in Uzbekistan is still dependent on the water policies of neighboring countries, located in the upper reaches of the rivers, whose actions lead to changes in flow regime of the main rivers Syr Darya and Amu Darya, and make it inappropriate for agricultural use," Umarov said.

The head of the Uzbek delegation reported on measured taken in the country for careful use of water resources.

"As a result of the project on integrated management of water resources water use for irrigation dropped by 20-30 percent," Umarov said.

The Chairman of State Nature Protection Committee of Uzbekistan drew attention to the fact that the country located in the arid climate zone in Central Asia today is faced with environmental problems of global climate change, transboundary air pollution, desertification and land degradation, biodiversity loss, lack and degradation of water quality.

All this, according to him, becomes the cause of a number of socio-economic problems.

"Most of the problems associated with the deterioration of the environment, are transboundary in nature, which in turn dictates the need to develop and implement an independent, balanced environmental policy of cooperation in the field of environmental protection at the regional and global level," Umarov stressed.

He recalled that solving the problems caused by the effects of environmental catastrophe - drying out of the Aral Sea, which affected the living conditions of tens of millions of people living in the Aral Sea basin requires attention.

The Uzbek representative said that the republic is implementing the program of modernization of industries, aimed at reducing energy consumption, using renewable energy, Clean Development Mechanism projects are implemented.

"The country fulfills all its commitments to the 12 international instruments in this area," Umarov said.

He said the country developed a national action plan for environmental protection, which identifies priority environmental problems and the means chosen to address them in 2020.

"The results and the qualitative changes occurring in the economy, society and politics allow to set goals for the transition to the next stage, aimed at achieving sustainable development goals in the long run, whose one of effective tools is the transition to "green" economy," Umarov said.

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