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Central
Asia is facing a severe water crisis that
threatens not only economic development but also
the lives of millions of people. The lack of
freshwater due to climate change and inefficient
water management poses significant challenges
for the region’s countries. With the advent of
summer, the capitals and many small towns of
Central Asia are faced with an acute problem of
access to drinking water. CAN EECCA analyzed the
situation. The water crisis in Central Asia
requires urgent and coordinated action by the
region’s countries. Combating climate change
requires effort at the national and regional
levels and, in parallel, building resilience and
strengthening water security. Taking effective
action in all these areas will change the lives
of tens of millions of people in Central
Asia.
NPP – THE PROBLEM OF
THE FUTURE: globally, there is no safe method of
disposal of nuclear waste
The
planned construction of a nuclear power plant on
the border of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, on Lake
Tuzkan, is dangerous. The problem here is not
even in the technology or the imperfection of
nuclear reactors. As they say, the devil is in
the details. When the public is offered
information about the ultra-reliability of
modern equipment and the minimal risks
associated with accidents at nuclear power
plants, they are silent about the most critical
problem – nuclear waste disposal. The world has
not yet developed such technologies that would
minimize the damage caused by nuclear waste to
the environment. They do not exist, which means
that a storage facility for nuclear waste will
also be created along with the nuclear power
plant in Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan has reached
a deal with Russia’s Gazprom to buy 2.8 billion
cubic meters of natural gas annually over the
coming two years as part of a broader effort to
prevent winter-time shortages. The Energy
Ministry said in a statement on June 19 that daily
deliveries of 9 million cubic meters of gas will
start from October 1. The ministry said in its
statement that the tariff will be based on
market rates and prices within Uzbekistan. While
short of the 6 billion cubic meters per year
deal that the Russian media had forecast earlier this month,
this agreement marks a breakthrough in Moscow’s
fraught efforts to negotiate the sale of gas to
buyers in Central Asia.
Climate negotiations
kicked off once again this month in the German
city of Bonn, as diplomats from around the world
searched for common ground before the next big
UN summit COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
(UAE). Developing countries had scored a “win”
six months earlier at COP27 in Egypt when they
secured a “loss-and-damage
fund” for people struck by climate disasters. At
Bonn, delegates were tasked with laying the
groundwork ahead of a “global
stocktake” that will see nations
assessing their progress towards climate goals.
Their schedules were also packed with the
various workshops and “dialogues” that underpin
the UN climate system.
UN to unmask fossil
fuel lobbyists at climate
talks
Oil,
gas and coal representatives will have to
disclose their industry ties at future climate
meetings, the UN says. For years, fossil fuel
employees have been able to attend without
having to be clear about their relationship with
their companies. Last year, over 600 industry
participants were able to enter the COP27
meeting in Egypt. Campaigners say the UN ruling
is the first step to limiting the influence of
polluters. The new rules will be in place for
the COP28 summit in November in Dubai, United
Arab Emirates, one of the world's top oil
producers. UAE oil company chief Sultan Al Jaber
will preside over the summit, an appointment
that has irked environmentalists.
Since 2021, China’s
“Whole County
PV”
programme has been dramatically expanding the
use of solar power in rural areas, by building
on government, commercial, industrial and
residential rooftops. However, the programme
faces a number of obstacles, with problems
reported, for example, in the rollout in the
province of Shandong in eastern China. Yet it
also offers advantages that can overcome the
problem of scale. Installing solar photovoltaic
(PV) panels on rooftops over a large area can
clear out administrative burdens and reduce
“soft costs”, which are inherent in marketing
and installing solar to households or businesses
one by one.
Glaciers
are melting at unprecedented rates across the
Hindu Kush Himalayan mountain ranges and could
lose up to 80% of their volume this century if
greenhouse gas emissions aren’t sharply reduced,
according to a report. The report Tuesday from
Kathmandu-based International Centre for
Integrated Mountain Development warned that
flash floods and avalanches would grow more
likely in coming years, and that the
availability of fresh water would be affected
for nearly 2 billion people who live downstream
of 12 rivers that originate in the
mountains.
At
climate talks in Bonn this week, the Mexican
delegation led a push for the United Nations
(UN) to clamp down on harassment and
intimidation at climate talks, winning support
and concessions. The Mexican delegation, which
is dominated by young women, spoke up strongly
against the “difficult experience” they said
they experienced at the Cop27 climate talks in
Egypt last November. Their campaign for reforms
gathered momentum throughout the two-week talks
in Bonn and resulted in UN Climate Change head
Simon Stiell closing the talks by saying that
“harassment, be it in the form of sexism,
bullying or sexual harassment is not
acceptable”.
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