From 18-19 November, Armenia together with other Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries met in Tbilisi to discuss their progress in mitigation and adaptation against climate change in line with policies of reducing greenhouse gas emissions set in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

The Armenian delegation represented by Government officials and UNDP Armenia Climate Change Programme staff members, exchanged ideas and thoughts during the two-day regional workshop organized within the European Union (EU) funded EU4Climate programme.

The overall objective of the workshop was to support the policy-makers from six Eastern Partnership countries in implementing the Paris Agreement, the landmark document that unites the world in combatting climate change.

The discussions aimed at realizing countries’ climate promise principles through knowledge exchange and focused on increasing climate ambition based on sound data, promoting whole-of-government engagement and budgetary alignment for climate action, as well as addressing acceleration in sectorial policies and mobilizing society.

The first day of the workshop inspired debate on the key challenges and knowledge gaps related to NDCs implementation. It served as a good platform for countries to share their experience and to present their main concerns and difficulties that may require external support. Besides, the session provided first-hand experience on scenarios of development and modelling of GHG emissions and energy policy.

The second day of the workshop focused on sharing strategies on how to reach a better coordination in cross-sectoral work and how to leverage the private sector for climate action. The ways of enhancing monitoring progress and strengthening transparency under Paris Agreement Transparency Framework were also discussed.

Ultimately, the workshop served productive for EaP countries to become more familiarized and empowered with best practices on climate action to address current and futures challenges of the matter.
Participants agreed that national pledges should become more precise and ambitious as implementation of the Paris Agreement moves ahead.

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The Tbilisi workshop was held as part of a regional discussion series organised under the EU4Climate programme. Two previous workshops were hosted by Moldova focusing on low-emission development and adaptation to climate change.

EU4Climate is a European Union funded initiative implemented by United Nations Development Programme. The project aims to reinforce climate action in six EaP countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. The objective is to support the development and the implementation of climate-related policies, which contribute to low emission and climate-resilient development, in line with the Paris Agreement goals on climate change.