Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad opened by noting Pakistan’s role as a co-sponsor and applauding Tajikistan’s leadership. He highlighted that Pakistan hosts over 7,000 glaciers, containing more glacial ice than any country outside the polar regions, and that these glaciers feed the Indus River, supporting agriculture, hydroelectric power, and drinking water for hundreds of millions. He warned that accelerated glacier melt is intensifying glacial lake outburst floods, threatening food, water, energy, and livelihoods, particularly for vulnerable communities, and stressed that without more ambitious mitigation and adaptation, these trends will worsen. While acknowledging the Karakoram anomaly, he stated cryosphere loss remains evident and preservation is vital. Pakistan’s response includes GLOF projects with UNDP that deploy early warning systems and flood protection infrastructure, and the integration of glacier protection into the National Adaptation Plan and the updated NDC 3.0. Internationally, Pakistan hosted a high-level dialogue on cryosphere adaptation and disaster risk reduction at COP30 in Belm and announced a Cross-Regional Glacier Resilience Initiative to share knowledge with similarly affected countries. The Prime Minister participated in the First High-Level International Conference on Glacier Preservation in Dushanbe, and Pakistan has partnered with UNESCO and WMO to advance the science-policy interface for mountain and glacial ecosystems. The Ambassador underscored that glacier protection is a global concern requiring global action and multilateral cooperation at a scale commensurate with the threat, as emphasized by the Foreign Minister. He concluded by looking forward to continued engagement at the 2026 UN Water Conference.
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