Ashgabat, 16 November 2021: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) organized an inception Workshop of the project "Developing a National Adaptation Planning Process in Turkmenistan" in an online mode. A new three-year project implemented by the UNDP and the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan is financed by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and aims at increasing the resilience and adaptation capacity of the country through the development of the National Adaptation Planning (NAP) process focusing on strengthening the institutional framework for the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change, increasing the national adaptation planning capacity and building a strong evidence base for adaptation planning in the water sector of the country.

The meeting gathered representatives of the national ministries and entities involved in the development of the national adaptation planning process and the representatives of the international organisations accredited in Turkmenistan. The workshop participants discussed the project objectives and implementation process outlining the engagement of all project stakeholders and establishing the Project Board.

The inception workshop was held with participation of Ms. Rohini Kohli – Lead Technical Advisor UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub and Ms. Burcu Dagurkuden – Regional Technical Advisor UNDP IRH, who introduced the participants to the NAP Process and Green Climate Fund Requirements for NAP.

“As we all know, Turkmenistan is vulnerable to climate change due to its geographical location, constantly rising temperatures and growing water scarcity. While climate change affects the entire economy, the water sector is hit hardest” – said Farhat Orunov, Programme Analyst of the UNDP Environmental Portfolio in Turkmenistan. “The purpose of the project is to develop a national institutional coordination mechanism and governance processes for planning and adaptation measures. We expect that this project will increase the capacity of those involved in adaptation planning both in the water sector and in adaptation planning in general”.

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In the framework of the project ""Developing a National Adaptation Planning Process in Turkmenistan" UNDP will partner with the Government of Turkmenistan to strengthen its adaptive and resiliency capacities to climate change by integrating climate risks and adaptation measures into planning and budgeting processes via the development of a national adaptation process.

The project will complement current UNDP portfolio on climate change and enhance capacity of the national Ministries directly involved in climate change-related issues and development of the national adaptation planning process. It is expected that the project will result in the development of a sound and dynamic national climate change adaptation strategy and relevant action plan.