MEETING OF THE PRESIDENT OF TURKMENISTAN WITH THE UN DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL

On December 1, 2023, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov held a meeting on the sidelines of the COP28 Conference with the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Inger Andersen.

The Head of State and the Executive Director of UNEP expressed satisfaction with the opportunity to discuss current issues of cooperation in the environmental sector, to which the world community pays close attention. At the same time, the readiness of Turkmenistan and UNEP to further strengthen the traditional fruitful interaction was confirmed.

As President Serdar Berdimuhamedov noted, Turkmenistan identifies climate change as an integral factor affecting sustainable development. Turkmenistan actively supported the Paris Climate Agreement, ratifying it in October 2016. In accordance with the obligations assumed by Turkmenistan, a new edition of the National Climate Change Strategy was approved in September 2019.

In May 2022, our country’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) was approved as part of the fulfillment of obligations under the Paris Agreement, which was officially submitted to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Currently, with the support of UNEP, active preparation of the Fourth National Communication of Turkmenistan on climate change under the UNFCCC is also underway.

It was emphasized that solving environmental problems requires combining efforts at the global, regional and national levels, multilateral cooperation and coordination of actions of each state with the UN.

Based on this, Turkmenistan proposes to create a Regional Center for Climate Technologies for Central Asian countries with headquarters in Ashgabat. In this context, hope was expressed that the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Ministry of environmental protection of Turkmenistan and UNEP will become the basis for joint activities in this direction.

Continuing the meeting, interaction on the issue of reducing methane emissions into the atmosphere was named as a pressing topic on the international agenda in the field of climate change. As is known, two years ago, at COP26 in Glasgow, Turkmenistan welcomed the new Global Methane Commitment (GMP) initiative and expressed interest in studying it in detail. At today's Conference, our country announced its accession to GMP.

At the same time, Turkmenistan intends to continue cooperation with international organizations and partner states within the framework of existing projects and programs aimed at fulfilling the conditions arising from the Global Methane Commitment.

Currently, a joint project is also being prepared with the International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO), within the framework of which it is planned to conduct a series of relevant trainings for Turkmen specialists, conduct joint scientific research, and improve national relevant legislation.

During the meeting, the Aral issue was also touched upon. As is known, Turkmenistan chaired the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) from 2017 to 2019. A lot of work has been done during this period. For the first time after a long break, the IFAS Summit was held in August 2018 with the participation of the heads of all states of Central Asia, which took place in our country.

At the initiative of Turkmenistan, the UN General Assembly in 2018 and 2019 adopted the Resolutions “Cooperation between the United Nations and the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea”. They became the basis for the development of interaction between IFAS and specialized agencies, programs and funds of the UN system, as well as international financial institutions.

In addition, during the chairmanship of Turkmenistan in IFAS, a draft of the 4th phase of the Action Program to provide assistance to the countries of the Aral Sea basin was prepared. The promotion of the UN Special Program for the Aral Sea Basin was also launched, designed to consolidate the efforts of the states of the region and the world community in combating the consequences of the environmental crisis of the Aral Sea in modern conditions.

It was also noted that on May 19, 2023, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) adopted a Resolution initiated by Turkmenistan regarding the establishment of the above-mentioned UN Special Program. This document proposes to initiate consultations with relevant UN agencies to determine the optimal format and structure of this Special Programme.

An important place in cooperation between Turkmenistan and the Community of Nations in the environmental field is also given to the Caspian theme. Thus, in September of this year, at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, our country made a proposal to create the “Caspian Environmental Initiative”, which is intended to become an international platform for substantive interaction on issues of environmental protection of the Caspian Sea, the conservation of its biological resources, and the solution of a number of pressing environmental problems .

In this context, Turkmenistan hopes to strengthen its partnership with UNEP on specific projects related to adaptation to climate change in the Caspian region, as well as the development of a concept for marine spatial planning of the Turkmen part of the Caspian Sea.

The Executive Director of the UN Environment Program, the UN Deputy Secretary-General, highly appreciated the work carried out by Turkmenistan in the environmental field, its constructive initiatives and contribution to solving priority global tasks in this direction.

President Serdar Berdimuhamedov thanked Inger Andersen for supporting UNEP's close cooperation with our country.

At the end of the meeting, the commitment of Turkmenistan and the UN Environment Program to further effective partnership that meets the goals of universal well-being and sustainable development was reaffirmed.