Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, June 18 /Trend, H. Hasanov /
President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov has approved the National Strategy on Climate Change, local media outlets reported on Monday.
The document 'aims to strengthen the legal framework of government policy on the protection of the environment, determining main activities to prevent and reduce the impact of climate change, as well as ensuring fulfilment of international legal documents related to climate change in which Turkmenistan is involved'.
This issue was raised at a recent government meeting at which the Turkmen president said that environmental protection and ensuring ecological safety has been and remains one of the priorities of Turkmenistan's state policy.
'President Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov reaffirmed our country's intention to continue to be directly involved in international interaction primarily under the auspices of the UN which corresponds to the common goals of sustainable development', the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper reported.
Particular attention is paid to efficient cooperation with Central Asian countries on the full spectrum of environmental issues in general and on climate change in particular.
Through decisions made by the Central Asian Interstate Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), adopted in June 2007 and November 2008, Turkmenistan has been assigned to coordinate the activities of the region's states on climate change.
Turkmenistan proposes to establish a specialised agency, a regional centre for addressing climate change problems in cooperation with the UN.