On 19-20 October 2020, the UNDP IRH, along with its partners from the European Commission and EU Eastern Partnership Countries, organized a two-day regional online “Webinar on Long-Term Low Emissions Development Strategies (LT-LEDS) and climate policy mainstreaming” under the EU-UNDP “EU4Climate” regional project.

The event aimed to serve as a platform to learn from global best practices in developing climate policies and to exchange knowledge and experience among policy makers, practitioners and experts from the six EaP Countries, including Armenia, as well as to present to date results achieved by EaP countries under “EU4Climate” project.  

Around 80 public and international officials and experts from the EU and EaP countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine) participated in the event to share visions, best practices and information on current activities and achievements towards domestic LT-LEDS development processes.  

The representative from the European Commission Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), Michael Rupp, welcomed  the participants and briefed on the new “Reform Agenda beyond 2020”, in which “Environment and Climate” is one of the key priorities identified. As set by the EU Green Deal - a green, just recovery from COVID-19 will also shape the agenda of the Eastern Partnership Framework, putting goals and policies aligned with the needs of countries to build back better. The new policy dialogue and regulatory system is primarily provided for regional programs, including “EU4Climate” project.

Mr. Rupp highlighted the importance of such event, discussing practical steps, challenges and benefits in developing LT-LEDS under “EU4Climate”, as an excellent example of how the EU supports countries in practice. “Development and effectiveness of climate policies requires hard work and determination, as the strategy development is the key part of the puzzle in guiding countries towards reaching global temperature goals agreed under Paris Agreement, as well as putting actions towards finalization and implementations of NDCs”, - stated Michael Rupp.

During the 1st session of the webinar, the representatives of each EaP country government presented current status on LT-LEDS and more broadly on countries’ climate policy elaborations and strategy developments.

Irina Ghaplanyan, the Deputy Minister of Environment, highlighted the tremendous support in updating the INDC in the frames of “EU4Climate” project and informed on the development of draft 2020 updated NDC by the Ministry of Environment under the Project, with the support of UNDP in Armenia. Reiterating Armenia’s commitment for the development of LT-LEDS, submission of long-term low GHG emissions development strategy with a declared goal for 2050 and mainstreaming climate in sectoral development strategies, Ms. Ghaplanyan mentioned that Armenia’s efforts towards more green and resilient economy are aligned with the EU’s climate agenda and Green Deal approaches. “Sectoral analyses and policy recommendations will be elaborated as sectoral programmes and studies to serve as an input to LT-LEDS framework, leading to final outputs of the efforts made under “EU4Climate” project”, - stated Irina Ghaplanyan. The Deputy Minister also briefed on drafting the new “National Programme on Energy Saving and Renewable Energy”, analytical work made towards assessment of mitigation potential in transport sector, as well as those of recently initiated for agriculture and forestry sectors.

The session was summarized with an “Offline exercise on the development of LEDSs” with the participation of representatives from EaP countries. The Exercise was a practical tool to share national experience in the provided topics on temperature rises, GHG emitter sectors, certain indicators and emission drivers per six EU Eastern Partnership countries.

The 2nd session began with briefing on the results of the Exercise on behalf of Armenia by Vahram Avanesyan, the Team leader for development of “National Program on Energy saving and renewable energy for 2021-2030” under the “EU4Climate” project. Information on major impacts of climate change, its risks and the Government’s respective actions, main drivers of GHG emissions, the use of climate change indicators across energy, forestry and agriculture sectors was provided.

The webinar continued with the presentations from countries’ representatives on the implementation of targets and initiatives under “EU4Climate” project. In particular, countries’ status regarding climate policy, NDC development and its revision, climate strategies, action plans and climate mainstreaming mechanisms in sectoral policies, LEDSs development processes and concepts identifying the best pathways of their implementation, the existing roadmaps and domestic approaches aligned with the local context and legislations were discussed. Activities made towards climate mitigation and adaptation, the research completed for climate change impact assessment also were part of the presentations.

After a brief introduction by Arnela Ayvazyan, the Deputy Director of Armenian Renewable Resources and Energy Efficiency Fund (R2E2, contracted under EU4Climate Project), Ms. Astghine Pasoyan, the Team Expert, spoke on the approach for developing the “National Program on Energy Saving and Renewable Energy for 2021-2030”, focusing on low-carbon development policies for the energy system, Program’s key elements, alignment with other policies and consultations with stakeholders. Ms. Pasoyan also presented Sustainable Energy Policy Framework in Armenia, referring to international treaties Armenia is part of, the strategic and legal framework, current programs and plans, positive steps and successes to date, the pilot projects of energy saving and remaining issues, gaps and spheres that need further tailoring.

At the end of the webinar, Yevgen Groza, the Regional Coordinator of “EU4Climate” project summarized the key outputs of the discussions and expressed his thankfulness to all the presenters for sharing the progress and experiences on LT-LEDS process per country.

To summarize, the 2-day webinar was an excellent platform for six EaP countries in terms of exchanging approaches and mechanisms for implementation of international commitments under Paris Agreement in general and, in particular, the revision and development of NDCs and LT-LEDSs, as well as learning the international best practices and sharing visions and concepts that will lay ground for facilitation of strategy developments domestically and lead to closer cooperation between EaP countries to reach the targets and goals set by “EU4Climate” project.