In his welcoming speech to the participants of the Central Asian International Environmental Forum, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov especially highlighted the importance of solving climate change problem for Turkmenistan.
The head of the state said that UN's adoption of a new international agreement on climate change and a number of agreements by the heads of the Caspian littoral states testifies to the support of the world community for the proposals and initiatives of Turkmenistan.
Turkmenistan signed the Paris Agreement on September 23, 2016 and ratified it in October of the same year. Turkmenistan is an active supporter of preventing negative consequences of climate change, consistently carries out numerous activities aimed at reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. An example of this is the "National Strategy of Turkmenistan on Climate Change", adopted on June 15, 2012, which outlines the main principles, specific goals and measures to reduce emissions, and their applicability in various sectors of the country.
The forum "Initiative for cooperation in the field of environmental protection and sustainable development in Central Asia" focuses on climate change and rational water use, which is important in the context of sustainable development in Central Asia. The State Committee for Environmental Protection and Land Resources of Turkmenistan and the Regional Environmental Center for Central Asia (CAREC) are organizers of this forum. It is planned to hold a forum every year, alternately in each of the founding countries of CAREC thus becoming an interactive platform for the multilateral exchange of views on a range of issues of sustainable development and contribute to the revitalization of partnership in the region.