Turkmenistan is confronted with increasing climate change induced stressors, including shortage of water resources, increased desertification, land degradation and higher frequency of drought occurrence as well as higher frequency of shock events such as flash floods, mud flows, intense rainfall events and intense heat waves. This, in turn, is expected to lead to instability of agricultural production and threatening food security. These factors are adversely affecting the country’s economy as well as livelihoods of its population. To achieve a paradigm shift to low-emission and climate-resilient development, Turkmenistan needs to catalyze climate finance for innovation and investments in projects with transformational impact. The GCF can play an pivotal role in this process, however the Ministry of Agriculture and Nature Protection of Turkmenistan (MAEPT) in its role as the National Designated Authority (NDA) lacks adequate capacities to efficiently engage with the Fund. In fact, to date, there has been no funding dispersed through the GCF Readiness Programme nor any proposal submitted to access investments for mitigation or adaptation project in Turkmenistan.

With the Regional Environmental Center for Central Asia (CAREC) as its delivery partner, the MAEPT seeks to strengthen its capacities as the NDA to the GCF. The proposed GCF Readiness project will support Turkmenistan in achieving its climate resilient and low-carbon development goals, comply with its international climate change obligations and national development priorities and objectives by effectively and efficiently strengthening its access, management, deployment and monitoring of climate financing through the GCF. Indeed, the project is considered a very first step towards building NDA capacities and establish key processes and structures to access GCF funds. The project will strengthen institutional capacity of key stakeholders and establish key mechanisms to govern and coordinate climate action and finance and to engage with the GCF systematically and effectively (Outcome 1) and develop a Country Programme (Outcome 2). The readiness activities are planned and will be implemented in line with national policies and priorities and complement other key foundational measures including Turkmenistan’s Nationally Determined Contribution, the Third National Communication, and the National Climate Change Strategy.

Turkmenistan is part of a landlocked hydrographic system in which climate risks extend across national borders. With all five Central Asian countries among the ECA Region’s most vulnerable to climate change, building resilience to climate’s mounting impacts is a priority for poverty reduction and shared prosperity. In particular, water is vital for multiple and sometimes competing uses, such as winter hydropower upstream and summer irrigation downstream. Climate change is expected to have dramatically adverse social, economic, and environmental consequences3. Achieving climate resilience development in Turkmenistan, or indeed any other country in Central Asia, will be possible only if coordinated regionally. To this end, the proposed project also includes unprecedented regional activities, initiating a discussion and exploring the opportunity of a regionally coordinated climate project pipeline for achieving transformative impacts in the whole of Central Asia (Outcome 4).