Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07DUSHANBE855
2007-06-08 12:48:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Dushanbe
Cable title:
TAJIKISTAN SUPPORTS PRESIDENT BUSH'S CLIMATE INITIATIVE
how-toVZCZCXRO9825 RR RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG DE RUEHDBU #0855 1591248 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 081248Z JUN 07 FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0412 INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 2116 RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 2150 RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 2117 RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1456 RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 1974 RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 2132
UNCLAS DUSHANBE 000855
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, OES
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL ENRG SENV TI
SUBJECT: TAJIKISTAN SUPPORTS PRESIDENT BUSH'S CLIMATE INITIATIVE
REF: STATE 75287
UNCLAS DUSHANBE 000855
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, OES
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL ENRG SENV TI
SUBJECT: TAJIKISTAN SUPPORTS PRESIDENT BUSH'S CLIMATE INITIATIVE
REF: STATE 75287
1. Rustam Latipov, Tajikistan's Deputy Minister for Agriculture
and Environmental Protection and the leading government official
responsible for environmental issues, expressed support for
President Bush's new international framework initiative on
climate change. PolOff delivered points per reftel to Latipov
June 7 and Latipov assured PolOff that the Tajik government
would support President Bush's initiative. Latipov said that
the government will draft a letter of support to be delivered
through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
2. Backing the Tajik government's enthusiasm to develop a coal
industry in Tajikistan, Latipov pointed out that deforestation
is a big problem for Tajikistan. In a country desperate for
energy and electricity, villagers are forced to cut down trees
to heat their homes. In turn, fewer trees means that less
carbon dioxide emissions can be absorbed. Latipov said that the
Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection will lobby
the government to invest in clean coal technology and replant
trees around the coal mining areas.
3. Latipov called melting glaciers the most significant climate
change problem for Tajikistan. With little industry and cars
per capita, Tajikistan lags far behind other countries in
greenhouse gas emissions. However, climate change has affected
the country's rural villages and threatens the pristine glaciers
of the country's famed Pamir Mountains. According to media
reports, the glaciers are receding at a rate of 20 meters per
year and temperatures in the Pamirs have increased at one and a
half degrees in the past ten years. Ilhomjon Rajabov, of
Tajikistan's Agency for Hydrometeorology, stated in media
reports that the country's ice cover will decrease by 20 percent
by 2050.
4. Even though at this time, water may be abundant in
Tajikistan, excess water poses severe threats. Floods create
problems year after year, washing away homes, destroying
agriculture and lives. Higher temperatures and melting ice also
create landslides or mudslides which are not only destructive,
but contaminate the water sources, carrying diseases straight to
the people and livestock, the majority of whom do not have
access to clean water.
5. At this point in time, Tajikistan has an abundance of water.
However in the future, if temperatures continue to rise and the
glaciers disappear, that means the water supply will diminish.
Climate change in Tajikistan will also have a regional impact
because Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan depend on the Pamir glaciers
as a water source for drinking, irrigation and energy
generation.
HUSHEK
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, OES
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL ENRG SENV TI
SUBJECT: TAJIKISTAN SUPPORTS PRESIDENT BUSH'S CLIMATE INITIATIVE
REF: STATE 75287
1. Rustam Latipov, Tajikistan's Deputy Minister for Agriculture
and Environmental Protection and the leading government official
responsible for environmental issues, expressed support for
President Bush's new international framework initiative on
climate change. PolOff delivered points per reftel to Latipov
June 7 and Latipov assured PolOff that the Tajik government
would support President Bush's initiative. Latipov said that
the government will draft a letter of support to be delivered
through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
2. Backing the Tajik government's enthusiasm to develop a coal
industry in Tajikistan, Latipov pointed out that deforestation
is a big problem for Tajikistan. In a country desperate for
energy and electricity, villagers are forced to cut down trees
to heat their homes. In turn, fewer trees means that less
carbon dioxide emissions can be absorbed. Latipov said that the
Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection will lobby
the government to invest in clean coal technology and replant
trees around the coal mining areas.
3. Latipov called melting glaciers the most significant climate
change problem for Tajikistan. With little industry and cars
per capita, Tajikistan lags far behind other countries in
greenhouse gas emissions. However, climate change has affected
the country's rural villages and threatens the pristine glaciers
of the country's famed Pamir Mountains. According to media
reports, the glaciers are receding at a rate of 20 meters per
year and temperatures in the Pamirs have increased at one and a
half degrees in the past ten years. Ilhomjon Rajabov, of
Tajikistan's Agency for Hydrometeorology, stated in media
reports that the country's ice cover will decrease by 20 percent
by 2050.
4. Even though at this time, water may be abundant in
Tajikistan, excess water poses severe threats. Floods create
problems year after year, washing away homes, destroying
agriculture and lives. Higher temperatures and melting ice also
create landslides or mudslides which are not only destructive,
but contaminate the water sources, carrying diseases straight to
the people and livestock, the majority of whom do not have
access to clean water.
5. At this point in time, Tajikistan has an abundance of water.
However in the future, if temperatures continue to rise and the
glaciers disappear, that means the water supply will diminish.
Climate change in Tajikistan will also have a regional impact
because Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan depend on the Pamir glaciers
as a water source for drinking, irrigation and energy
generation.
HUSHEK