By 2050, Climate Change will Depress Central Asian Economies by 1.3 Percent a Year and Lead to Five Million ‘Climate Migrants’ There, Kazakhstan President Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Sept. 16 – Many in Central Asia have begun to talk about just how serious climate change will be for that region, but now Kazakhstan President Kasym-Jomart Tokayev has offered what may be the most dire prediction of all: the economies of the countries there will fall by 1.3 percent every year by 2050 and that there will be five million climate migrants.

            Tokayev’s comments came at a session of the summit of the Central Asian countries who earlier created the International Foundation for the Salvation of the Aral Sea and are an indication that most of them see the battle for that sea as lost and are now focusing on larger issues (dialog.tj/news/k-2050-godu-zasukhi-v-tsentralnoj-azii-mogut-privesti-k-poyavleniyu-okolo-5-mln-vnutrennikh-klimaticheskikh-migrantov-tokaev).

            Rising temperatures, declining flows of water from melting glaciers in the mountains, and poor water economy are all contributing to this situation which is already beyond the capacity of the countries there to manage. Tokayev’s words thus are directed not just at Central Asian leaders but at the international community which will have to intervene or face a spreading disaster.