“The current forum will serve to consolidate Samarkand’s status as one of the influential centers of environmental diplomacy. I would like to especially note that an international conference on combating desertification was held here in December 2023, and in April this year the largest forum on climate challenges in Central Asia will be held,” Shavkat Mirziyoyev said at the opening of the conference.

World Bank Global Director for Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy Valeria Hickey:

“In Samarkand and, in general, in Uzbekistan, large-scale events have been held in recent years at which environmental issues are discussed. One of the World Bank’s main missions is related to poverty reduction. And environmental problems can truly affect this.

Our goal at this conference is not only to prevent the extinction of wild animals, but also to preserve nature, study the experience of Uzbekistan and Central Asia and their maintenance. We support the proposals and decisions of the head of your state in this direction. It is noteworthy that Uzbekistan has established good relations with neighboring countries and, through negotiations, is fighting climate change with them. That is why the country is achieving results in preventing the extinction of wild animal species”.

For reference, on February 12, the 14th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals opened in Samarkand. The Convention was signed in 1979 in Bonn (Germany) and entered into force in 1983. Its participants are 133 countries. Uzbekistan ratified the convention in 1998.