On the 30^th of August, a workshop dedicated to drafting of the "Nationally Determined Contribution Implementation Plan" took place within the “EU4Climate” project, that is funded by European Union (EU investment: EUR 8 million) and implemented by United Nations Development Programme. “EU4Climate” project supports Armenia’s commitment to identify a realistic implementation strategy for the limitation of greenhouse gas emissions and prioritization of adaptation measures for coping with risks to the country’s sustainable development. Throughout the project, best international and EU practices will be applied, including some approximation to EU standards with the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

“The most important challenge we face today is to stop climate change getting worse. This means finding solutions that help us cut greenhouse gas emissions. As well as being good for the planet, it is also good for our health (less pollution), the security of our energy supplies and the economy, as it creates new jobs”, the EU Ambassador, Andrea Wiktorin, recalled in the National Media.

With the participation of around 70 participants – representatives from the Ministry of Environment and other stakeholder ministries, policymakers of the sector and members of expert community the workshop focused on the draft Plan developed by “Environment Group” that outlines the approaches of the Government of Armenia for the implementation of the Nationally Determined Contributions of Armenia (NDCs) 2021-2030. In particular, it includes the identification of gaps, tasks, institutional development, financial resources necessary for the successful implementation of the NDCs, its monitoring, evaluation, and periodic revisions.

On 30 April 2021, the Government of the Republic of Armenia submitted country’s NDCs 2021-2030 under the Paris Agreement to the UNFCCC Secretariat, declaring its commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 compared with base year 1990 by 2030.

Welcoming the participants, the UNDP Resident Representative a. i., Mihaela Stojkoska, emphasized the major role of “EU4Climate” project in promoting country’s institutional capacities to reach the increased ambitions set in country’s NDCs 2021-2030.

“For achieving Armenia’s climate change related commitments under CEPA and Paris Agreement it’s extremely important to realize county’s ambitions set in the updated NDCs ambitious goals, including emmissions reduction by 2030, building climate resilience, that are all harmonized with Sustainable Development Agenda of Armenia”, said Mihaela Stojkoska.

Presenting of the draft Implementation Plan, the Team Leader, Founder & CEO of “Environment Group”, Erik Grigoryan drew attention to the national context of climate change, the vulnerable sectors impacted by climate change, details on development scenarios for the energy sector up to 2030, the current data of GHG emissions and the possible effects of climate change in future, referring to Armenia’s NDCs 2021-2030 key provisions. He also spoke on the necessary mitigation actions to achieve the set goals and objectives of the NDCs for each sector. The financial evaluation of the implementation of NDCs 2021-2030, available options of financial tools and resource facilitation were also discussed.

Vardan Melikyan, the Expert of “Environment Group” LLC, further presented the details on climate change adaptation planning and the challenges for its development, as well as the coordination and institutional mechanisms founded for implementation of climate commitments of Armenia.

The presentation sessions were followed by Q/A discussions moderated by Diana Harutyunyan, UNDP Climate Change Programme Coordination.  The engaged participants shared their views and concerns on the presented draft NDCs implementation plan.

The workshop was productive to reveal the ways of the transformation of the updated NDCs into tangible actions that lead to long term low emission and climate-resilient development, as well as reflected comprehensively the questions and concerns of the participants.

Given that the objectives established in the NDCs are commitments made by the country and that the country shall account for its NDCs on a 5-year basis, the development of the NDCs Implementation Plan is initiated under “EU4Climate” project to support a more effective implementation process and coordination and to ensure transparency. For sustainability reasons it is important to ensure that NDCs activities are linked to the Government budgeting system. The approval of the NDCs implementation plan will provide the legal basis necessary for the implementation of the NDCs target.

In the closing session of the workshop, an agreement was reached to get the feedback and comments on the draft implementation plan by the participants, to gather the recommended actions for the document with clear dates and responsible agencies, as well as define provisions on monitoring arrangements for tracking the implementation of the document.