President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov took part in the High-Level Global Roundtable on Extractive Industries as an Engine for Sustainable Development, held online by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.

This high-level meeting, hosted by the Secretary-General, concludes a series of round tables held over the past few months by the UN Regional Economic Commissions with the support of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the Climate Action Group, the UN Conference on Trade and Development ( UNCTAD), the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the United Nations Development Program under the Financing for Development Initiative in the COVID-19 and Beyond (FFDI).

The Forum brought together heads of state and government, heads of international organizations, academicians and analysts, representatives of the private sector and civil society. The main goal of the forum is to identify actions and recommendations that can be implemented at the global, regional and national levels to address the challenges of climate change that negatively impact the 2030 Agenda.

The key topic of discussion is the extractive industries, including the oil, gas and mining industries, which have a crucial role to play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. At the same time, special attention was paid to Financing for Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond (FfDI), as well as the effective management of natural resources, the transition to green energy, investment in clean and renewable energy sources, technology and innovation.

Speaking during the high-level plenary meeting, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov put forward specific initiatives of our country aimed at consolidating efforts to address problems of our time.

Thanking the UN Secretary General for the invitation to take part in this representative international forum, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov underlined that Turkmenistan, fully sharing the concern over the negative impact of industrial emissions, consistently and resolutely advocated the closest coordination and coherence of international efforts aimed at minimization of the risks and challenges existing in this regard.

According to President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, continuing and universal commitment to the Paris Agreement on climate change stands as the key factor. This document is to determine the entire global ecological and environmental agenda in the current century, to ensure high efficiency of international legal mechanisms for its implementation.

The President of Turkmenistan emphasized that having joined this fundamental document, Turkmenistan had developed cooperation with the UN and other specialized international structures.

Currently, in accordance with the commitments under the Paris Agreement, the Fourth National Communication on Climate Change and the First Biennial Communication are developed in Turkmenistan with the support of the United Nations Environment Program and the United Nations Development Program. It is planned that both documents will be submitted to the UN Secretariat in early 2023.

According to President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Turkmenistan together with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, carries out preparatory work on the implementation of two major projects to protect the ozone layer. Turkmenistan expresses the willingness to closely cooperate with these and other international structures, as well as all interested states.

As one of the world's largest resource-producing countries and fully aware of its responsibility in this regard, Turkmenistan takes all necessary efforts to maintain the balance between production goals and environmental protection objectives.

The new edition of the National Strategy of Turkmenistan on Climate Change, adopted in 2019, provided all necessary legal, organizational and technological conditions for the implementation of environmental objectives, served as the basis for a radical expansion of the list of adaptation measures.

Today, this list covers almost the entire system of economic and industrial activity of the public and private sectors of the national economy.

In recent years, the carbon intensity of products manufactured in Turkmenistan has been steadily decreasing. That is vividly proved by the data presented by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. According to estimates within the framework of the Third National Communication of Turkmenistan, the economic growth will be accompanied by decrease in the share of energy consumption per unit of GDP until 2030. Thus, there will be a downward trend in the growth rate of carbon dioxide emissions to 122 percent in 2025 and to 118.1 percent in 2030.

The Turkmen leader emphasized that our country widely implemented adaptation measures to restore forests and improve land use to mitigate climate impacts. As part of the National Green Belt Programme, extensive forest belts have been created around cities using progressive water-saving irrigation methods. This year, it is planned to plant 30 million seedlings in the country.

In this context, reaffirming commitment to uniting and strengthening international efforts to address serious environmental threats, our country proposes a number of concrete and urgent steps.

In particular, it seems important to start developing a UN Strategy aimed at implementing measures to develop low-carbon energy.

The second proposal is the creation of an international "Road Map" under the auspices of the UN for the development of hydrogen as one of the priority directions in the energy sector.

As the initiator of these proposals, Turkmenistan is ready to start discussing the ways and criteria for their implementation at the expert level in the near future.

In conclusion of his speech, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov wished the participants of the "round table" success in achieving their goals.

The video address of the President of Turkmenistan was of particular interest for the forum participants.

Thus, neutral Turkmenistan, represented by its leader, reaffirmed its commitment to constructive cooperation within the framework of the United Nations, demonstrating balanced, forward-looking approaches to address urgent problems of the modern world.