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The main thing from Tokayev's speech at the World Climate Summit in Dubai

President of Kazakhstan Kassymzhomart Tokayev arrived at the Dubai Expo City Exhibition Center today, where he took part in the opening ceremony of the World Climate Summit under the auspices of the UN Climate Change Conference. At the event, he made several initiatives, reports BaigeNews.kz .

In his speech, the Head of Kazakhstan stressed that today half of the world's population lives in regions that are highly dependent on climate change.
«Small island developing States, landlocked developing countries and least developed countries are most at risk. Constant geopolitical instability and lack of energy security also complicate the task of maintaining attention to the climate agenda», he said.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev supported the UN's call to take concrete actions aimed at preserving the environment for future generations, and stressed that Kazakhstan became the first country in the region to ratify the Paris Agreement and adopt a Carbon Neutrality Strategy until 2060.

According to him, the Environmental Code adopted in Kazakhstan will contribute to the comprehensive adaptation of green technologies in almost every sector of the national economy.
«Our country has huge potential for the development of wind and solar energy, as well as for the production of "green" hydrogen. We will continue to work closely with our partners to unlock this potential. As a leading exporter of uranium, providing 43 percent of global supplies, we play a crucial role in the production of carbon–free electricity on a global scale», the Head of state noted.
According to Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, in the coming decades, the most important minerals, including rare earths, will become indispensable as the world decarbonizes. In this regard, the President declared Kazakhstan's readiness to become the main supplier of such minerals of the transition period.

He also stated that our country actively supports private "green" initiatives, and cited the example of the domestic Association of Packers, which works on projects to get rid of plastic waste, contributing to the protection of the environment.

The Head of State recalled that reducing methane emissions is the fastest way to slow down the pace of global warming. In this regard, he informed about Kazakhstan's decision to join the Global Commitment to Reduce Methane Emissions.

In addition, the President informed about Kazakhstan's desire to solve the large-scale coal problem in the countries of our region by implementing a Partnership for a fair energy Transition in our country and called on friends and partners to support Kazakhstan in this matter.
«More broadly, we hope that the international community will expand its commitment to increase funding for climate programs. But financing is only the first hurdle. Even if we successfully limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees by 2050, the Central Asian countries will still face a temperature rise of up to 2.5 degrees. This will lead to water shortages, extreme heat, desertification and extreme hydrological phenomena», the head of state believes.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called on the international community to allocate more funds to support the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea.
«Kazakhstan will assume the chairmanship of the Fund next year and hopes to involve all partners in solving this issue. In addition, we are pleased, together with France, to become co-chairs of the first thematic Summit "Ice Water" on the sidelines of the next session of the UN General Assembly. Based on the successful results of COP 28, which took place this week, I invite the participating States to the Astana International Forum in June 2024. The Forum can serve as a dialogue platform for continued focused cooperation on pressing climate-related issues until COP 29. In order to give impetus to climate protection actions in Central Asia, we also decided to convene a Regional Climate Summit in Kazakhstan in 2026 under the auspices of the United Nations», the President of Kazakhstan stressed.
Summing up his speech, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said that the climate emergency is a global crisis that requires a global response, and only collective action and cooperation will help us resolve the climate crisis.

The leaders of more than 40 states, heads of international and regional organizations also spoke at the summit.
2023-12-01 14:05