Interaction with the UN on the environmental track became one of the main points in the speech of President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov at the plenary meeting of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, on Tuesday, September 19.

As the head of state noted, with accession to the Paris Climate Agreement in 2017, Turkmenistan adopted a number of relevant national programs, and measures are being taken to reduce and eradicate the negative consequences of methane emissions into the atmosphere.

Recently, the country approved a Roadmap for international cooperation aimed at studying the issue of Turkmenistan joining the Global Methane Commitment, and in the near future this document will be sent to the UN Secretariat.

It’s time to pay closer attention at the UN to environmental problems in Central Asia, overcome a certain inertia in their consideration and begin targeted measures to formulate a holistic UN environmental strategy for a region with a population of almost 80 million, located in a zone of serious environmental risks, Serdar Berdimuhamedov said.

In this context, Turkmenistan makes a proposal to establish a specialized structure - a Regional Center for Technologies related to Climate Change in Central Asia, which would work substantively and systematically on climate issues, TDH writes. Turkmenistan, for its part, is ready to provide organizational and technical conditions for the functioning of such a Center in Ashgabat.

Serdar Berdimuhamedov also proposed creating a Caspian Environmental Initiative.

Central Asia is directly adjacent to the Caspian Sea, and this body of water with its unique natural complex is important in the context of the planetary environmental agenda.

As a result of many years of energetic and respectful cooperation, the coastal countries have developed key principles of policy in the Caspian Sea, including the adoption of the main document - the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea, the President of Turkmenistan noted.

Turkmenistan is making a proposal to create the Caspian Environmental Initiative, which is designed to become an international platform for substantive and professional interaction on a wide range of issues related to the protection of the Caspian environment, its biological resources, and the solution of a number of pressing environmental problems, Serdar Berdimuhamedov said.

According to the head of state, the implementation of this initiative should be carried out in close cooperation with the UN, its agencies, bodies and institutions.

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