On November 3, Serdar Berdimuhamedov spoke at the UN climate change conference COP 26, which is taking place in the Scottish city of Glasgow. Initially, it was unclear why the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of finance was sent to the meeting on environmental issues – the Turkmen press did not explain this .
It turned out that Berdymukhamedov Jr. participated as a spectator in a panel discussion on funding climate change initiatives.
Representatives of financial institutions and finance ministers from different countries discussed the possibilities of increasing the volume and efficiency of funds allocated for combating climate change. In particular, they talked about the implementation of the initiative , according to which developed and rich countries undertake to annually allocate $ 100 billion to developing countries, which suffer the most from the effects of climate change, annually.
After the completion of the main part of the event moderator gave the floor to those present in the hall of the ministers, highlighting every three minutes, and asked to talk about the progress in the development of the system of financing (including private) initiatives to mitigate climate change and, in particular, to achieve Net Zero ( carbon neutrality ), as well as identify specific steps that should be taken to achieve the goal of global funding for developing countries of $ 100 billion per year.
Serdar Berdimuhamedov was the first to take the floor to say that Turkmenistan has managed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions thanks to the widespread introduction of modern technologies.
The country has adopted the National Climate Change Strategy, the National Strategy for the Development of Renewable Energy until 2030 and the new Law of Turkmenistan “On Renewable Energy Sources”.
In the framework of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, Turkmenistan intends to achieve an end to the growth of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, and then – to reduce them. Berdymukhamedov Jr. also spoke about his interest in studying and possible joining the Global Methane Initiative. It is planned to achieve these results at the expense of its own funds, as well as at the expense of technical and financial support of international organizations and financial institutions.
The Turkmen Deputy Prime Minister also said that 25 million seedlings were planted in the country in 2020, and 30 million will be planted in 2021.
As noted by the publication “Meteozhurnal” , during the summit in Glasgow, three global initiatives were adopted: the Declaration on Forests and Land Use, the Declaration on the Reduction of Methane Emissions by 30% by 2030 (Berdymukhamedov stated his interest in studying it and possible accession) and the Declaration on Implementation advanced green technologies. Turkmenistan has not signed any of them.
Two weeks before the conference, Bloomberg found out that Turkmenistan ranks third in the world after Russia and the United States in terms of emissions of greenhouse gases, in particular methane, into the atmosphere.
Of the 50 largest leaks in the world since 2019, 31 occurred in Turkmenistan.
Sources working in the oil and gas sector in Turkmenistan said the infrastructure has hardly been updated since Soviet times due to a lack of funds and specialists. Environmental standards are ignored, there is no equipment to monitor emissions, and there is no incentive for management to monitor the situation. “Everyone just turns a blind eye to problems. Nobody cares about emissions of invisible gas, ”said one of the newspaper’s interlocutors.
Turkmengaz and relevant ministries do not respond to reports of methane leaks.
Source: Chronicles of Turkmenistan