Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- At the invitation of the President of the United Arab Emirates Muhammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev took part in the main plenary session of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) on 1 December, taking place these days in the city Dubai.

The event is attended by heads of state and government from more than 170 countries, heads of reputable international organizations and financial institutions.

At the beginning of his speech, the head of our state, sincerely congratulating the leadership and people of the United Arab Emirates on the national holiday and the successful organization of the historic summit, especially noted the global initiatives of the Emirates in the fight against climate change and contribution to green development.

As the President of Uzbekistan emphasized, currently climate change has become the most important challenge on the path to sustainable development. This is especially acutely felt in Central Asia and neighboring regions against the backdrop of the Aral tragedy - one of the most destructive environmental crises of our time.

The leader of our country drew the attention of those present to several facts.

Thus, the increase in air temperature in Central Asia is twice the global average, the number of extremely hot days has doubled, and a third of the glaciers have melted.

Soil degradation, regular dust and sand storms, shortage of drinking water, air pollution, loss of biodiversity, sharp decline in crop yields and much more negatively affect the quality of life of millions of residents of the region.

The President emphasized that the transition to a “green” economy and achieving carbon neutrality are the priority strategic objectives of the New Uzbekistan.

In recent years, the share of alternative energy production in our country has doubled. According to the head of state, by 2030, capacity to generate 25 gigawatts of renewable electricity will be created. The first practical steps have already been taken to implement the green hydrogen production project.

In addition, as part of the Yashil Makon initiative, 1 billion tree seedlings are planted in Uzbekistan. Thanks to forest plantations with a total area of 2 million hectares at the bottom of the Aral Sea, air pollution in the Aral Sea region is reduced.

Moving on to the main agenda of the event, the leader of Uzbekistan put forward a number of proposals.

In particular, the President of our country advocated for the speedy approval of the Global Framework for Adaptation to Climate Change within the framework of the Paris Agreement.

In this context, the Adaptation Strategy being developed on the platform of the Central Asian Climate Dialogue is noted.

The head of state highly appreciated the decision taken the day before to create the Global Fund for “Loss and Damage”.

Active support of these mechanisms by the World Bank and international financial institutions will make it possible to provide significant assistance primarily to those countries that suffer from climate change.

It was emphasized that the global transition to a low-carbon economy must be fair, transparent and inclusive, and must take into account the interests of developing countries.

It is proposed to consider this urgent problem on an ongoing basis, including within the framework of the G7 and G20 summits.

In order to transform the Aral Sea region into a Zone of innovation, technology and new opportunities, the head of our state invited everyone to close cooperation to create an International Expo Hub of Climate Technologies in this region with the aim of applying advanced knowledge, experience and solutions.