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On April 26, a regional workshop on climate mainstreaming activities in the EaP countries, with provision of recommendations for energy and agriculture sectors, was held in Brussels, Belgium, within “EU4Climate” project.
More than 40 participants - representatives from the governments of EaP partner countries, European Commission and UNDP, CSOs, specialists from the ministries, experts in the field came together to learn insights on mainstreaming climate actions in the EU and the EaP countries and exchange lessons learned and challenges encountered during policy planning and implementation.
In his welcoming remarks, Mr. Erwann Martin from the Directorate-General for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) encouraged the activities of EaP countries in mainstreaming climate into sectoral policies of energy, agriculture, health, gender, transport and waste, as mainstreaming is not a single action and needs to be enshrined in policy planning.
“The EU will continue its support to EaP countries by accelerating the decarbonization of their economies and the climate mainstreaming component of the EU4Climate project promotes the establishment of concrete sectoral guidelines for the implementation of Paris Agreement,” mentioned Mr. Martin.
Referring to the key achievements of EaP countries in developing their medium- and long-term policies under EU4Climate project, Mr. Georges van Montfort, the Deputy Director of UNDP's Representation Office in Brussels, mentioned, “We see the objectives of this workshop as an important step for transition from establishing climate policies to their actual implementation. I hope this event will serve an opportunity to strengthen partnership between the EU and EaP countries and promote knowledge and experiences in climate integration.”
Sharing country specific insights on climate change situation in Armenia, Ms. Natia Natsvlishvili, the Resident Representative of UNDP in Armenia, emphasized the importance of cooperation between UNDP and the EU within EU4Climate project towards climate policy development and implementation, as Armenia’s climate agenda is highly prioritized by the Government and the rapidly growing impacts of climate change need urgent measures to be addressed.
As part of Armenia’s state of play in introducing climate policies into sectoral policies, Ms. Lara Sargsyan, the Chief Specialist of Atmospheric Policy Department, Ministry of Environment, presented the programmes and strategies Armenia is leading to include climate considerations in sector-specific policies. Presenting the climate policy framework, she informed on the sectoral studies of climate mainstreaming in agriculture, LULUCF and transport, as well as briefed on the products expected to be finalized under EU4Climate that will further support climate mainstreaming.
In the session dedicated to presentation of case studies, Mr. Tigran Melkonyan, Head of the Energy Department, Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, presented the Case Study of Armenia – Program on Energy Saving and Renewable Energy for 2022-2030, focusing on the vision of climate mainstreaming in the energy sector, the aims, targets set by the Program and the measures for its implementation, the perspectives of low carbon development through advancing the usage of renewable resources, as well as harmonization of the RA energy sector regulations with the European standards under CEPA:
Among the key presentations delivered were the approaches of climate mainstreaming at EU level, including budgeting and financial instruments, EU taxonomy regulations in financing green transition. Also, the good practices of climate mainstreaming of the EU in the sectors of energy and agriculture, the status and lessons learned during the process of introducing Energy and Climate Governance and preparing National Integrated Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) in the Eastern Partnership region were presented.
The interactive session followed in groups to share insights, practices and main challenges occurring in climate mainstreaming processes and cross-sectoral cooperation in agriculture and energy sectors at local levels.
