Kazakhstan turns UN Conference’s attention to Aral and Caspian problems
The conference was timed to coincide with the World Oceans Day celebrated on June 8. The event is devoted to one of the Sustainable Development Goals which is to preserve and ensure rational use of oceans, seas and all their resources.
In total, 4,000 people including heads of state and government, ministers of the UN Member States, representatives of scientific and business communities, non-governmental organizations from all regions of the world participated in the conference. They discussed the problems of protecting the World Ocean from the climate change and pollution effects as well as conservation of bioresources and marine and coastal ecosystems, prospects for technical cooperation development and financial assistance to the most vulnerable countries in this regard, etc. The forum was organized by the governments of Fiji and Sweden.
Addressing the conference, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stressed that the oceans provide food, energy, water, jobs and economic development for people around the world, including landlocked countries. The UN head also noted that the oceans make a huge contribution to the containment of global warming and are an important resource for promoting sustainable development. Therefore, he called for strengthening the practice of rational use of marine resources.
In his speech at the general debate, the Kazakh deputy foreign minister drew participants' attention to the problems of the Aral Sea and the Caspian Sea. Previously, speaking from the UN rostrum, President Nursultan Nazarbayev noted that the problem of the Aral Sea affects not only our region, but the whole world, and, therefore, collective measures are needed to mitigate the consequences of the Aral Sea ecological catastrophe.
On June 6 this year, Y. Ashikbayev spoke at the UN Security Council Debate "Ensuring International Peace and Security: Preventive Diplomacy and Transboundary Waters". President of Bolivia Evo Morales (Bolivia presides over UN Security Council in June as its non-permanent member) chaired the meeting with attended by the UN Secretary General.
The Kazakh representative noted that Astana gives importance to the water security issues declared as one of the high priorities of our campaign at the UN Security Council election. He also briefed participants on the regional transboundary water cooperation in Central Asia, stressing the need for close coordination of neighboring countries' efforts in the mentioned field.
At the Ocean Conference and the Security Council meeting, Y. Ashikbayev held working meetings with President for the 71st session of the UN General Assembly Peter Thomson, Foreign Minister of Peru Ricardo Mendoza and Danish Minister for Equality and Minister for Nordic Cooperation of Denmark Karen Ellemann. With the UN Under-Secretary-Generals for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Stephen O'Brien and for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman, the Kazakh diplomat discussed the issues of the Central Asia regional security, humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and Syria, the progress of the Astana Process in resolving the Syrian conflict and the plans for establishment of the UN Regional Center in Almaty.