Workshop in Cholpon-Ata to address the risk of flooding and glacial lake landslides in high mountains

On February 6, 2024, Cholpon-Ata will host the opening workshop of the project Supporting Collective Response to Climate Emergency and Creating Sustainable Development Pathways for Human Security and Green Transformation. The focus will be on reducing the risks and consequences of explosions, floods and glacial lake landslides in high mountain areas.

The seminar will be attended by representatives of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Issyk-Kul District State Administration, specialists, heads and deputies of pilot villages, rural district leaders, youth organizations, women's councils, and environmental activists.

The third component of the project, Reduction of Risks and Vulnerability to Glacial Lake Outburst Floods and Landslides in Kyrgyzstan, implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) with support from the Government of Japan, is managed by the International Public Foundation Roza Otunbaeva Initiative. This component aims to strengthen the national disaster monitoring system and community adaptive capacity in the city of Cholpon-Ata and the villages of Chon-Sary-Oy and Bosteri.

Under this component, an environmental monitoring team will be formed and groups will be trained on climate change impacts, safe behavior, first aid, and the use of environmental modeling and monitoring tools. Gender awareness activities and public education on the risk of glacier collapse are planned for the target communities.

The project aims to establish a sustainable monitoring system at both central and local levels. The lack of monitoring hinders risk identification and leads to insufficient knowledge about the prevalence and severity of disaster risks.

Kyrgyzstan's more than 2,000 mountain lakes are threatened by climate change and rising global temperatures associated with permafrost degradation. Nearly 20% of them are at risk of disappearing due to natural dam instability, frequent flood outbursts, and melting of buried ice inside the dams. The estimated risk of glacial lake outburst is 328 per year, with the last major glacial collapse occurring on July 8, 2022, in the Jeti-Oguz district of the Issyk-Kul region.