On 3^rd of February in the frames of UNDP “Modern Parliament for a Modern Armenia” project a thematic meeting on "Parliamentary Action on Climate Change" was held in the National Assembly of Armenia, with the participation of NA parliamentarians and members of Committees, and representatives from the Ministry of Environment and United Nations Development Programme in Armenia.

The discussion focused on integrating climate change related issues into the agenda of National Assembly and the possibilities of its engagement in the actions against climate change impacts. In particular, the Parliamentarians, together with the Deputy Minister of Environment, Gayane Gabrielyan and the Coordinator of UNDP Climate Change Programme, Diana Harutyunyan, exchanged views and outlined the Climate Change Agenda in the National Assembly and identified the priorities and the main actions to be included in the Agenda. 

The Deputy Minister of Environment, Gayane Gabrielyan, presented the commitments and priorities of the Armenian Government against climate change. She also touched upon a number of sectoral issues for which the participants reached an agreement on continuously organizing similar meetings to establish cooperation and seek solutions to the pointed out issues. 

The participants of the meeting also outlined the establishment of an inter-committee working group on climate change issues in the National Assembly, consisting of representatives from sectoral Committees, in order to facilitate cooperation and to promote more effective and active collaboration.

They emphasized the importance of the strengthened cooperation between the Government and the National Assembly in the fight against climate change, that will serve more effectively to the full implementation of the NA parliamentary oversightl agenda. 

The meeting and further discussions are based on the recommendations provide during the “Parliamentary Action on Climate Change: Conference for Parliamentarians in Armenia” held on November 25-26, 2022. It was co-organized by UNDP “Modern Parliament for a Modern Armenia” Project (MAP), UNDP Climate Change Programme, and UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub Global Programme on Gender-Responsive and Risk-Informed Sustainable Development.