President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov took part in the One Planet Summit Segment in Paris and urged the participants to concert efforts to preserve glaciers and cooperate to protect water resources, the Telegram channel of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan reported.
He emphasised that climate change poses a fundamental threat to human wellbeing, affecting the cryosphere. Kyrgyzstan is of great importance for glaciation, since more than 94 percent of its area is covered with mountains, on which about 10,000 glaciers are located. However, the area of glaciers has shrunk by 16 percent over the past 70 years, and a loss of more than 80 percent of glaciers is expected by the end of the century.
Sadyr Japarov reminded that glaciers in Kyrgyzstan are one of the large sources of fresh water for Central Asia. Protecting glaciers necessitates increasing funding and concerting efforts of all countries.