On November 15, 2023, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov held an online meeting with the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Inger Andersen.
During the negotiations, views were exchanged on the current agenda of cooperation in the field of ecology, climate change and environmental protection, and priority areas for further cooperation were specified.
As the Minister emphasized, Turkmenistan defines addressing issues related to climate change as an integral part of sustainable development. With this in mind it was stated that our country actively supported the Paris Climate Agreement, which was ratified by Turkmenistan in 2016, and, in accordance with the obligations assumed, a new edition of the National Strategy of Turkmenistan on Climate Change was approved in 2019.
The parties expressed a common opinion that solving global environmental problems requires combining efforts at the international, regional and national levels. The need for multilateral and systemic partnership in coordinated activities with international organizations was noted. In this context, the Turkmen side confirmed the relevance of the initiative to create a specialized structure - the Regional Center for Climate Technologies for Central Asian countries, headquartered in Ashgabat.
It was also emphasized that a significant step in the development of interaction was the signing on November 13 of this year of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Environment Protection of Turkmenistan and the UN Environment Program, which is intended to become the basis for joint activities in developing programs and projects aimed at implementation in Turkmenistan and Central Asia climate technologies and innovations.
Along with this, the interlocutors discussed key aspects of cooperation on the problem of reducing methane emissions, as well as issues related to the Global Methane Commitment.
The parties exchanged views on the agenda of the upcoming 28th meeting of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 28) to be held from November 30 to December 12 this year in Dubai.
