Organisers of the next annual UN climate conference have joined the US in appealing to remote Turkmenistan to work with outside agencies to address its major planet-warming methane leaks.

Saamir Elshihabi, head of energy transition for the conference, COP28, to be held in the UAE, last week gave a speech at an investment conference in Dubai—as cited by Bloomberg—in which he said Turkmenistan had much to gain from entering into cooperations to deal with the dilemma. “We see this as a huge opportunity for Turkmenistan,” he said. His address was made at the International Investment Forum hosted by Turkmenistan, a country that spews more methane per unit of oil and gas output than any other major hydrocarbon supplier, according to International Energy Agency (IAE) figures.

The prospect of Turkmenistan linking up with international organisations to rapidly cut its methane emissions to assist in the battle against the climate crisis was on April 24 raised by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken when he met with Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov in Washington to discuss the United States-Turkmenistan bilateral partnership and areas of cooperation in annual bilateral consultations.

The Central Asian country is run by a ruling elite that is largely reclusive when it comes to international engagement. Scientists have previously reported difficulties in obtaining any response from Ashgabat when it comes to methane emissions from Turkmenistan that they have detected using satellite monitoring. As bne IntelliNews reported in late March, Turkmenistan can be seen as holding the unwanted title of undisputed champion of the world for methane emissions. In fossil fuels, it is a methane "super-emitter", as confirmed by satellite evidence.

Turkmenistan, the largest pipeline supplier of natural gas to China, relies on ageing infrastructure to tap its gas reserves, the fourth-largest in the world. The largest foreign energy company in Turkmenistan is China National Petroleum Corp. The country’s energy production is dominated by Turkmengaz and Turkmenneft, controlled by the ruling elite.

Diplomatic efforts to get Turkmenistan to address the issue of methane emissions are accelerating ahead of COP28, to be hosted by the United Arab Emirates later this year.

Elshihabi, reported Bloomberg, also emphasised the focus there will be on fossil fuels at this year’s COP summit, given that a major oil producer, the UAE, will lead the talks. “Historically, oil and gas has not been part of the COP conversation,” said Elshihabi, adding: “This year, we take this responsibility very seriously in the UAE.”

Many of the fixes that could be put in to curb Turkmenistan’s methane leaks are relatively simple. For instance, scientists using satellite data last year assessed that repairing just 29 pieces of equipment could halt methane leaks with a similar global warming impact to the annual emissions from all the cars in Alabama. 

Chairman of the People’s Council of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, visited UAE President Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan in February.

Those anxious to address Turkmenistan’s methane emissions will seek to point out to Berdimuhamedov and his son and president Serdar Berdimuhamedov that if the country captured its emitted methane, instead of burning it off or releasing it, it would have more gas to sell. Turkmenistan and the UAE in March said they have a preliminary agreement to jointly work on the next stage of the super-giant gas Galkynysh field in eastern Turkmenistan.