Turkmenistan Moves to Curb Methane Emissions

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Facts

  • On Tuesday, Turkmenistan's Pres. Serdar Berdimuhamedov launched two initiatives, including one targeting oil and gas industries' colossal methane leaks, to reduce the country's greenhouse gas emissions.1
  • The news comes as officials from Turkmenistan and the US are negotiating an agreement that could see the latter provide financial support and expertise to the central Asian nation to plug holes, which are allowing plant-warming gases to escape its aging fossil fuel infrastructure.2
  • The methane roadmap for 2023-2024, approved by Berdimuhamedov at a cabinet meeting on June 10, includes improving national legislation, cooperating with foreign partners to set up pilot projects, and collaborating with the UN's International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO).1
  • It's alleged that Turkmenistan was one of the worst for methane "super-emitter" events last year — one of the leaks, in particular, caused climate pollution equivalent to the emissions of 67M cars.3
  • The roadmap, if successful, would help the country join 150 nations that have signed the Global Methane Pledge, which aims to reduce global methane emissions by 30% by 2030.4
  • Turkmenistan is also notably home to the "Gates of Hell," a 230-foot-wide (70m) 65-foot-deep crater that has been burning methane for more than 40 years.5

Sources: 1Guardian, 2Bloomberg, 3Mother Jones, 4Al Mayadeen English, and 5ZME Science.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Guardian. Helping Turkmenistan successfully mitigate its methane emissions would reflect a major achievement in tackling the climate crisis. The real work starts by cutting emissions, and demonstrating results through performing measurements, transparent reporting, and effective mitigation.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Mother Jones. Plugging Turkmenistan's giant methane leaks is vital for reaching our climate goals. However, Turkmenistan is just one of many super-emitters that must be addressed. A long list of polluters including Russia, the US, Iran, Iraq, China, Libya, Algeria, Venezuela, and Canada also need to make a dent in their methane emissions for global warming to be tackled successfully.

Predictions