Representatives of the State Energy Institute of Turkmenistan, as well as the State Concerns “Turkmengas” and “Turkmennebit” took part in a seminar organized by the OSCE on monitoring and scientific research in the field of reducing methane emissions, which took place on November 6-7. This is stated in the message of the OSCE Center in Ashgabat.

 The goal of the two-day online event was to present OSCE participating States' best practices in determining methane emissions and introduce related measurement and monitoring techniques.

 “Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and climate pollutant that poses a serious threat to safety and environmental stability,” said William Leaf, acting chief of the Division of Economic and Environmental Affairs.

 “We organized this workshop to support the efforts of the Government of Turkmenistan to promote environmental sustainability and assist in the implementation of the adopted Roadmap for 2023-2024, aimed at developing international cooperation and exploring the issue of Turkmenistan joining the Global Methane Commitment,” Leaf added.

 International experts focused in detail on assessing the possibilities and results of reducing methane emissions, as well as technological aspects of managing methane emissions.  Lively discussions took place on the definition of methane emissions, as well as measurement and monitoring methods.

 It is worth noting that in June 2023, by decree of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, a Roadmap for the development of international cooperation aimed at studying the issue of Turkmenistan’s accession to the Global Methane Commitment for 2023–2024, as well as an Action Plan for its implementation, was approved.

 The road map was adopted in order to fulfill the tasks arising from international obligations on environmental protection, including the implementation of the Paris Agreement in the country to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

 Also in June of this year, the President of Turkmenistan signed a decree on the creation of an intersectoral commission to reduce methane emissions.  The work of the intersectoral commission is aimed at strengthening control over the effectiveness of work to systematically reduce the volume of greenhouse gases, and mainly methane emissions, arising in various sectors of the economy.