Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am delighted to join you today at this important High-level side event on the occasion of World Water Day, focused on “The Melting Cryosphere.”
Congratulations to all Member States, led by the Permanent Mission of Tajikistan, for organizing this event in partnership with the UNDESA, WMO, UNESCO and UN Water.
The cryosphere, the icy part of our planet, is so interconnected with other parts of the Earth system, what happens in the cryosphere affects the whole Earth.
The polar ice sheets store more than 99 % of earth’s freshwater ice on land and even modest losses can raise the global sea level, increase coastal flooding and disturb oceanic currents.
The IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere tells us that our glaciers and ice sheets are shrinking, less snow is falling and more permafrost is thawing across the polar regions than ever before.
In August last year, Greenland saw rain at the highest point of its ice sheet for the first time since scientists have been making observations there, the latest signal of how climate change is affecting every part of the planet. The rainfall coincided with two “melt events” that the ice sheet witnessed in July and August last year.
Rising temperatures in the Arctic are already leading to shorter snow seasons. The thawing permafrost will result in enhanced natural emissions of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere.
The retreat of the region’s sea ice, ice caps and glaciers is challenging the integrity of ecosystems and the sustainability of communities. Diminishing sea ice is changing shipping lanes and the availability of resources. It also affects fish stocks, marine mammals and bird populations.
This situation has a profound impact on the future of water security; rather on humanity’s very own survival.
In the mountainous regions of the world, snowpack serve as frozen reservoirs. As temperatures in the spring warm, the snowpack begins to melt, metering out water over the months of summer and fall. The recent widespread reductions in mountain snowpack around the globe affects summer stream flows critical for hundreds of millions of people for food production and other uses.
The IPCC report makes clear that we are at a critical crossroads: we can choose a more sustainable path towards global warming of 1.5 degrees or our current, unsustainable path.
Incremental steps will only lead to mass migration due to sea level rise, mass extinction of species and a world much hotter, and less stable than the one we currently live in. The time for bold and immediate action to fight climate change is now
We need an integrated water and climate approach for mitigation and adaptation. At the same time, we also need greater protection of glaciers and freshwater sources.
Protecting the cryosphere is an important element to accelerate progress towards achieving the SDGs.
Colleagues,
As today’s event emphasizes, science and big data are absolutely crucial for preserving freshwater sources and the cryosphere. Policy makers should rely on sound, regular, and thorough scientific analysis to better understand impacts, implications, and potential future risks. Only with this science-backed understanding can our policies be better targeted and effective.
This marriage between science and policy, was the reason the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was created. This was also the purpose of the Global Sustainable Development Report, which provides inputs into the High-Level Political Forum: it ensures that policy makers have the best and most recent assessments to make the best and most appropriate policies.
As has been said ‘water unites us’; threats and barriers to access to water affect us all.
Small Island Developing States, such as my home country, the Maldives, and other countries in special situations, will bear the brunt of this impending tragedy, at least the earliest impacts, if we do not act together – now. But rest assured that all others will experience impacts of their own. None are immune. From drying trends and sea level rise to frequent coastal threats, all of these will dramatically threaten water availability and, in turn contribute to geopolitical tensions, macroeconomic fragilities and social fragmentation.
Dear Friends,
I encourage all participants to help connect scientific research with policy developments and concrete action.
This way, we will be able to develop a set of tangible recommendations to enhance synergy among different components and stakeholders of the cryosphere.
Water is Hope. Water is Life. Water is our Future. The choice is ours to make.
I thank you.
