Tajikistan Faces Climate Emergency. AFP, February 17, 2010. "Tajikistan faces potentially calamitous food and water shortages unless action is taken to mitigate the effects of climate change, including rapidly retreating glaciers, Oxfam International Warned on February 17. The British charity said the Central Asian country's glaciers in the Pamir Mountains are in retreat and one and a half million people were already suffering food insecurity after years of drought. 'Entire swathes of the rural population of Tajikistan have already suffered greatly in recent years, barely able to feed their families,' Oxfam Tajikistan director Andy Baker said... With Tajikistan already locked in a diplomatic standoff with neighboring Uzbekistan over precious water supplies, Baker warned of a 'dangerous ripple effect' across the region as states fight for their share of resources. Uzbekistan -- which provides for over 95% of Tajik energy imports -- fears a mega new dam being built by Tajikistan will dry up water supplies to its cotton fields.
"The Oxfam report, entitled Reaching Tipping Point? Climate Change in Tajikistan [PDF, 13 pp], says there has already been a rise by some 1.0-1.2 degrees Celsius in parts of the country over the past 60 years. Some 20% of the country's glaciers have retreated and up to 30% more are likely to retreat or disappear by 2050, it said. Oxfam said more should be done to improve access to water and methods of food storage and preservation as well as provide more support and training in agriculture. But also, international 'negotiations must get straight back on track to achieve a fair, ambitious, and binding deal to tackle climate change, which is now overdue,' it said. A predominantly Muslim nation of 7.5 million, Tajikistan is the poorest state in the former Soviet Union. Devastated by civil war in the 1990s, its economy is heavily reliant on remittances sent by expatriate workers in Russia and other former Soviet states."
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