Turkmenistan welcomes the Global Methane Commitment initiative and will study the project in detail with a view to considering the possibility of participating in its implementation. This was stated by Vice-Premier Serdar Berdimuhamedov, speaking at the 26th session of the UN climate conference, the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan reported.

According to him, in Turkmenistan, at the national level, special attention is paid to reducing methane emissions.

As part of his speech, the Vice - Premier of Turkmenistan said that the country intends to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The corresponding process will be implemented at a rapid pace in the period until 2030, and, starting from this year, the state plans to achieve zero growth in greenhouse gas emissions. Serdar Berdimuhamedov added that both state funds and money allocated by international structures and financial institutions will be used for this.

To achieve the goals on the climate agenda, the Central Asian country is improving the national legislative framework. The National Strategy on Climate Change, the National Strategy for the Development of Renewable Energy until 2030 and the new Law of Turkmenistan “On Renewable Energy Sources” were cited as examples.

The Global Methane Pledge is prepared ahead of COP26. It provides for a 30 percent reduction in methane emissions by 2030 compared to 2020.

Methane is the second most abundant substance in the atmosphere after carbon dioxide, affecting the increase in temperature. The largest methane emitter is the oil and gas industry. It is also actively released in landfills, from livestock and due to the thawing of permafrost. In the short term, methane can be even more dangerous than carbon dioxide: in 20 years, it heats the atmosphere 80 times more.