Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 13 June, the IV Samarkand Forum on Human Rights began its work in the ancient and ever-changing city of Uzbekistan. This year’s traditional international conference is devoted to the topic "Environmental problems: the future of human rights in a changing world, finding sustainable solutions".

The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev congratulated the participants of the IV Samarkand Forum on Human Rights. The congratulations were read out by the Presidential Press Secretary Sherzod Asadov.

Akmal Saidov, First Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Director of the National Human Rights Center of the Republic of Uzbekistan, welcomed the prestigious guests of the Samarkand Forum. He noted that this international conference, where climate and human rights issues are discussed, was put forward in the speech of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (SOP28).

At the opening of the forum, the video addresses of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Matteo Macacci were shown. At the opening ceremony, Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Muzraf Ikramov, the Permanent Coordinator of the UN in Uzbekistan, Sabina Mahl, congratulated the participants. 

Wishing success to the work of the Samarkand Forum, the speakers drew attention to the fact that the world is currently experiencing a critical environmental situation. Three global crises are intensifying: climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental pollution. These risks are even affecting the world’s geopolitical architecture.

The negative consequences of climate change, which has become the main threat to sustainable development, are particularly felt in Central Asia due to the Arol tragedy. Central Asia, which continues to fight against the tragedy of the Aral Sea in such complex conditions, is becoming one of the most vulnerable regions in the face of climate change.

Despite the fact that Uzbekistan is doing its best to eliminate the consequences of the Aral tragedy, which is a global problem, the support of the international community is very important to continue these efforts. In this sense, the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev addressed the UN General Assembly on September 20, 2023. In his speech at the 78th session, he proposed the adoption of the resolution of the UN General Assembly "Central Asia in the face of global climate threats: solidarity for common prosperity".

This initiative serves to develop regional and international cooperation to prevent the threats of global climate change to Central Asia and is equally in the interests of all partners. The basis of this proposal is not to approach the existing environmental problems only at the regional level, but also to draw the attention of the international community to the specific aspects of these threats.

It should be noted that in 2021, due to  the initiative of  the President of Uzbekistan at the 75th session, the resolution of the UN General Assembly "On declaring the Aral region as a region of ecological innovations and technologies" was adopted. The General Assembly was the first to present such a status to the Aral region.

As a result, 1.7 million hectares of forests were created on the dry bottom of the Aral Sea during 2018-2022. In order to mitigate the consequences of the tragedy of the island, to preserve biodiversity on the island, nature parks, nature reserves and state protection areas were established on an area of more than 3.5 million hectares. The situation of centralized provision of drinking water to the residents of the Republic of Karakalpakstan and Khorezm region has improved significantly.

Volker Türk, among other things, "probably nowhere has there been such environmental degradation as in the Aral Sea. "I witnessed this myself when I was in Uzbekistan last year," he said. In the words of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, “This example shows that the triple planetary crisis is not only a disaster for the environment and human rights. It is also a disaster for our economy. Climate-related disasters caused US$3 billion in damage in Central Asia last year alone."

Also, as M. Ikramov noted, "the movement of cars, which is becoming a global problem, and the increasing traffic jams are also causing air pollution. Vehicles pollute atmospheric air by 45.7% with nitrogen oxides and 42% with hydrocarbons. 75.5 million tons or 78 percent of the 100 million tons of carbon dioxide released into the air on Earth in one year are caused by motor vehicles. Therefore, determining the stable future of human rights protection in the process of global risks, ensuring the environmental rights of citizens is one of the priority strategic tasks of New Uzbekistan."

According to M.Mecacci, "Extreme weather events are already causing the migration and displacement of millions of people, often far from their homes, who are looking for safe places to live, work and study. That’s why responding to such life-changing challenges is so important to respect the rights and needs of all people." In the near future, as the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights assured, "Central Asia and the entire OSCE area can become a model region where the work of human rights defenders is respected and encouraged, and environmental concerns are heard."

Global cooperation will undoubtedly greatly increase the chances of finding smart strategic solutions to climate-related disasters and efficiently mobilizing the necessary resources. The initiatives of the President of Uzbekistan in the same direction, on the one hand, further strengthen international cooperation and dialogue in the fight against climate change, and on the other hand, such global problems are interconnected and once again confirm the importance of coordinating efforts at all levels.

The national organizers of the forum are the National Human Rights Center of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the "Strategy of Development" center.

International partners are the Office of the Permanent Coordinator of the United Nations in Uzbekistan, the regional office of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for Central Asia, the representative office of the United Nations Development Program in Uzbekistan, the Office of the Coordinator of Projects in Uzbekistan of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and representative offices in our country of the Friedrich Ebert and Konrad Adenauer Foundations.

200 experts are participating in the forum. The participants are mainly national and foreign experts, climate specialists, representatives of government organizations dealing with climate change issues, civil society institutions, mass media, scientific research centers, companies, business circles and representatives of international organizations.