The regional forum organized by the Ministry of Nature Protection of Turkmenistan in the framework of the Central Asia Intergovernmental Commission for Sustainable Development (ICSD). The meeting focused on the global problem the modern world faced nowadays – climate changes brought together the specialists of the nature-conservation agencies from Central Asia and the UN programmes in Ashgabat.

The Intergovernmental Commission for Sustainable Development established in 1994 on the initiative of the Central Asian countries adopted the Regional Environmental Action Plan in 2002. The REAP sets forth the effective measures to assess the ecological situation in the region, to define the priority goals, to elaborate and monitor the implementation of the investment programmes. The REAP priority goal is to control climate changes. Last year by the decision of the ICSD Turkmenistan was charged with coordination of the activities to monitor climate changes in Central Asia. The ecological seminar in Ashgabat is another constructive step towards these goals.

To specify the important trends and prepare the recommendations on the comprehensive regional strategy of adapting to climate changes, to work out the co-operation strategy for the Central Asian states and the international adaptation funds and to define the key approaches to this problem in the framework of the ICSD and REAP are the objectives and goals of the Ashgabat environmental forum.

The participants presented the reports containing the predictive estimates of the consequences of climate changes in each country in the region in the context of the national environmental programmes. These predictive estimates will underlie the regional strategy aimed at regulating the joint medium-range activity.