An Azerbaijani delegation led by Samir Sharifov, Deputy Prime Minister, is participating in the High-level International Conference on Glaciers’ Preservation held in the capital city of Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
The international conference brings together high-level representatives from UN agencies, governments, financial institutions, and civil society with global policymakers, scientists, and experts to discuss the urgent crisis of glacier retreat and forge concrete solutions for their preservation.
The Azerbaijani delegation also includes officials from the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The High-Level International Conference on Glaciers' Preservation - a key event within the UN's declared "International Year of Glaciers' Preservation 2025" - held at the initiative of Emomali Rahmon, President of the Republic of Tajikistan, aims to highlight the crucial role of glaciers in addressing global climate change.
Addressing the plenary session of the conference on May 30, Samir Sharifov underlined that during the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which was successfully held in Baku in 2024 under the leadership of the Azerbaijani President, significant progress was made on issues that had not been agreed upon for many years. He also stated that at COP29, nations agreed to a new climate finance goal of at least $300 billion annually by 2035 to support developing countries in their climate action efforts, as well as the Loss and Damage Fund was established to help vulnerable nations cope with the impacts of climate change.
The Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that the protection of glaciers is not only of regional, but also global significance.
Deputy Prime Minister Samir Sharifov described protecting glaciers as a vital mitigation strategy against climate change, emphasizing that the main conditions for the protection of glaciers are limiting global temperature increases as agreed upon within the framework of the Paris Agreement.
Deputy Prime Minister Samir Sharifov met with Prime Minister of Tajikistan Kokhir Rasulzoda and held several meetings with Deputy Prime Minister of Tajikistan, Co-Chairman of the Azerbaijan-Tajikistan Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation Usmonali Usmonzoda, as well as the Secretary General of the Economic Cooperation Organization Asad Majeed Khan, on the sidelines of the conference, and exchanged views on the fight against climate change, as well as other matters of mutual concern.
