Turkmenistan has begun repairing the ageing oil and gas infrastructure responsible for some of the world's worst methane "super-emitter" leaks, in what UN officials have called a breakthrough. The secretive, authoritarian state was named by the Guardian in 2023 as the worst offender for methane mega-leaks, and the resulting scrutiny is credited with pushing its government to engage with foreign partners and start fixing corroded pipes, faulty wells and failing flares. Methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas, trapping 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide and driving roughly a quarter of current global heating, so plugging leaks quickly can have an outsized and rapid climate benefit.

The UN's Methane Alert and Response System (Mars) sent Turkmenistan 192 alerts over the past year, and the country responded to about 20% of them, going on to fix eight leaks. It still had three of the world's six worst leaks detected in the last six months and nine of the top 50, showing much work remains. By contrast, the US received 138 alerts but fixed none, while Iran, Russia and China responded to none at all; Mexico, home to the single worst leak detected (37 tonnes an hour, offshore), responded to every alert but has yet to complete a fix. Turkmenistan joined the global methane pledge in December 2023, and UN programme manager Meghan Demeter said the country's response rate is growing steadily, though the fixes so far remain small relative to the country's overall emissions.