Tazeen Akhtar
Experts estimate that there are more than 1,000 dangerous glacial lakes in Central Asia which pose a threat to nearly 100,000 inhabitants of mountainous regions. Gov of Tajikistan is working on how to deal with the challenge for last many years with international community and United Nations.
In 1998, flood outbursts of the same type caused more than 100 fatalities in Uzbekistan and damaged 5,000 houses in Kyrgyzstan.
Another outburst flood in July 2015 was triggered by exceptionally high summer temperatures. Rapidly melting glacier ice triggered mudflows in the mountainous regions of Tajikistan. Over the same summer, meltwater from a glacier near Almaty, Kazakhstan, caused the evacuation of over 1,000 people and injured another 78. Some 127 houses were damaged by the avalanche of rocks and water.
More recently, a rapid injection of meltwater from the Aksai glacier in northern Kyrgyzstan triggered an outburst flood that damaged houses and roads in villages in the valley. The lake still poses an ominous threat to the capital city of Bishkek, which has a population of almost 1 million.
Governments, scientists, specialised agencies and others met in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, from 29 to 31 May 2025 to strengthen global efforts in preservation of glaciers at First High level International Conference, an initiative of President Emonali Rahmon, in collaboration with UNESCO, WMO and Asian Development Bank.
In his opening address, the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, H.E. Emomali Rahmon, emphasized the urgent need for united global action to protect glaciers and the broader cryosphere, which are critical to the planet’s ecological and hydrological balance.
Pakistan appreciates Tajik President for hosting the most important meeting that will be attended by experts, scientists, world leaders and politicians, who would provide valuable contributions as to how to counter the fast-melting glaciers around the globe.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif participated in a high-level event of Glaciers 2025; Actions for Glaciers’ hosted by Tajik President Emamoli Rahmon at the sideline of COP29 at Baku on 12 Nov 2024.
The urgency of the conference was strongly reinforced by unfolding real-world events. Just a day before the conference began, a glacier collapse in Switzerland buried the Alpine village of Blatten. Fortunately, due to continuous monitoring and early evacuation, the community avoided significant casualties.
A similar event devastated Tilgaun village in Nepal’s remote Limi Valley two weeks earlier by an unseasonal flood caused by the sudden outburst of two glacial lakes located in the high mountains. The flood struck without rainfall or warning displacing the entire village.
Displaced people now live in tents with no electricity or clean water. It took a week for relief materials to reach the village — transported by vehicle, carried by porters, and finally by horse — highlighting the remoteness and vulnerability of mountain communities.
Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, in a report warned last year that water shortages are not the only threat that Central Asia faces. In Dushanbe on 12 June, UNESCO showcased another project which is putting early warning systems in place by 2026 to reduce the vulnerability of populations in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to glacier lake outburst floods. This project benefits from US$6.5 million from the Adaptation Fund.
Imagine the contents of an entire lake suddenly cascading down a mountain towards you. This type of disaster scenario is not science fiction. It has happened before and, with climate change causing glaciers to melt, glacial lakes are filling up, making outburst floods more likely. In the past three decades, there have been more than 30 outburst floods in Central Asia.
Outburst floods not only release huge amounts of water with little or no warning. They can also cause damage in areas situated hundreds of kilometres downstream of the glacier and even across the border.
Through its Almaty office, UNESCO is implementing a project which will enable Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to share their experience of monitoring the cryosphere in their respective countries, including as concerns the impact of melting glaciers on the availability of water.
This pooling of knowledge will then inform the design of national and regional strategies for adapting to climate change. This project is being implemented by UNESCO, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme and the Global Environmental Facility.
The shrinking cryosphere is of particular concern to Central Asia, as the region’s main river systems are dependent on the seasonal melt of snow and ice. With climate change, the glaciers are shrinking from one year to the next. These melting glaciers will initially supply larger quantities of water but the flow will gradually decline as their volume decreases.
