The President of Turkmenistan, Serdar Berdimuhamedov, addressed the Regional Ecological Summit in Astana on 22 April. This was reported by the website AsmanNews.

The Head of State described the forum as an extraordinary event – for the first time, countries in the region are discussing the environmental agenda at the highest level in a comprehensive and pan-regional context.

Serdar Berdimuhamedov identified the main challenges: climate change, dwindling water resources, land degradation, desertification, loss of biodiversity and increased migration from disadvantaged areas. According to him, the response must be to consolidate the efforts of the region’s states and expand cooperation with the UN.

Turkmenistan put forward two initiatives: to establish a Regional Centre for Climate Technologies and a Regional Centre for Combating Desertification for the countries of Central Asia. Ashgabat also proposed setting up a Regional Council on Water Use under the auspices of the UN. Regarding transboundary rivers, Turkmenistan insists on three principles: compliance with international conventions, equal consideration of the interests of all riparian states, and broad UN participation.

Regarding the Caspian Sea, the President of Turkmenistan recalled the environmental initiative addressed to all Caspian littoral states and announced the next high-level meeting on the ecology of the Caspian Sea in early October.

In conclusion, the Head of State expressed the hope that the summit would serve as a platform for developing coordinated solutions and would provide impetus for systematic work in the region.