Month: March 2022

From left to right: Takir Balykbayev, Zhanna Kurmangaliyeva, Igor Severskiy, and Akhmetkal Medeu 

UNESCO Almaty Office would like to congratulate Mr. Takir Balykbayev to his appointment as the Director of the LLP “Central Asian Regional Glaciological Centre category 2 under the auspices of UNESCO”. We look forward to further strengthen our cooperation specially in the context of the regional project funded by the Adaptation Fund and implemented by the UNESCO Almaty Cluster Office with the name “Reducing vulnerabilities of populations in Central Asia region from glacier lake outburst floods in a changing climate” (GLOFCA). 

Press release:

Wednesday, 2 March 2022 – The UNESCO Almaty Office and the Kazakh State Institution “Kazselezaschita” are joining forces in a project named “Reducing vulnerabilities of populations in Central Asia region from glacier lake outburst floods in a changing climate” (GLOFCA), funded by the Adaptation Fund. As part of the GLOFCA’s YEAR-1 activities, Kazselezaschita is contributing to a country synthesis report on current state of knowledge on GLOF hazard and risk as well as providing a comprehensive review of Glacier Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) and glacial mudflow mitigation and prevention methods over past 50 years in Kazakhstan. The outcomes will serve as an important basis for a regional best-practice guidance document for lake mapping and monitoring being developed under GLOFCA by the project partner University of Zurich jointly with national experts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Пресс-релиз: ЮНЕСКО и Казселезащита запускают сотрудничество

Алматы, Казахстан

Среда, 2 марта 2022 – Бюро ЮНЕСКО в Алматы и Государственное учреждение (ГУ) «Казселезащита» объединяют усилия для реализации проекта «Снижение уязвимости населения в Центрально-Азиатском регионе от прорыва ледниковых озер в условиях изменения климата» (GLOFCA), финансируемого Адаптационным фондом. В рамках мероприятий, предусмотренных на первый год реализации проекта, эксперты ГУ «Казселезащита» примут участие в составлении сводного доклада о текущем состоянии знаний об опасности и рисках, связанных с прорывоопасными ледниковыми озерами, а также обобщат методы смягчения и предотвращения последствий прорыва ледниковых озер и гляциальных селей, применяемые в Казахстане за последние 50 лет. Данная информация послужит основой для разработки регионального руководства по наилучшей практике в области картирования и мониторинга ледниковых озер, разрабатываемого партнером проекта Университетом Цюриха совместно с национальными экспертами из Казахстана, Кыргызстана, Таджикистана и Узбекистана.

From February 23-35, 2022 an international online conference organized by the Kazakh-German University within the framework of the Green Central Asia Initiative. The main objective of the conference was to provide innovative solutions to the five Central Asian economies (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) by:

• Presenting and discussion policy proposals on innovative science-based solutions for the economic and political development of Central Asia in order to mitigate the impact of climate change;
• Informing on decision-making processes based on scientific research in the field of integrated water and land resources management, food security, infrastructure development, water, and climate security, and energy efficiency practices in Central Asia;
• Presenting innovation for development;
• Involving youth in scientific research and decision-making processes

The online conference covered a wide range of issues and was divided into pre-sessions, panel discussions, and thematic sessions each discussing the impact of climate change on the Central Asian countries and presenting proposals including necessary adaptation measures. Mr. Bakhtibek Otambekzoda represented the “Reducing the vulnerabilities of populations in the Central Asia region from glacier lake outburst floods in a changing climate” (GLOFCA) project as a national coordinator for Tajikistan during one of the sessions named “Climate Security: Disaster Risk Reduction and Adaptation” as a discussant and shared his views and recommendations on the presented policy-brief as well as briefly informing the participants about the GLOFCA project aims and components. 

The report published on February 28, 2022 is looking at ecosystems, biodiversity, and human communities at global and regional levels. It also reviews vulnerabilities and the capacities and limits of the natural world and human societies to adapt to climate change.

We are in the middle of a men made crises!

httpss://report.ipcc.ch/ar6wg2/pdf/IPCC_AR6_WGII_SummaryForPolicymakers.pdf

Press statement by the the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres