In the period of 15-17 October 2019, the Republic of Armenia is participating in the “Regional Workshop on Long-Term Low Emissions Development Strategies and the Mainstreaming of Climate Policies” within the framework of EU4Climate project, being held at Chisinau, Republic of Moldova.
The project is funded by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme. It helps the governments in the six EU Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine in implementing their commitments to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and to develop and implement climate-related policies that contribute to low emission and climate resilient development.
This three-day regional workshop is aimed at carrying forward the discussion and inspiring the six EaP countries to take a step back and move from incremental to ambitious, long-term planning.
The workshop focuses on components two and five of the EU4Climate project:
ii) Support for development of national mid-century low-emission development strategies (LEDS)
Though the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) articulate national climate change efforts in the context of the Paris Agreement and countries’ development priorities, they are not yet sufficient to achieve the long-term global goal of keeping global temperature increases to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels (and aiming for 1.5 degrees Celsius). Therefore the objective of developing LEDS is to achieve a long term vision requiring more commitments from the governments and to call for new and innovative approaches in the battle against the climate change.
(v) Mainstreaming climate policies into other sectors, interinstitutional awareness and sectoral guidelines for implementing the Paris agreement
The developing of LEDS leads to the component five of the EU4C project, the mainstreaming (i.e., integrating) of climate change policies into development policies, plans, and programs across all sectors of the economy. This exercise will also strengthen the ownership of sectoral ministries during the low-carbon transformation process.
The Armenian delegation attending the workshop is represented by Diana Harutyunyan, Climate Change Program Coordinator, UNDP Armenia; Artak Baghdasaryan, National Expert on Economic Impact, EU4Climate-Armenia and the representatives from the agricultural sector of the Ministry of Economy; the Renewable Energy sector of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure and the Climate Change and Atmosphere Protection Policy sector of the Ministry of Environment.
Together with government practitioners and representatives from EaP countries, policy decision makers and international experts the members of Armenian delegation will share the existing good practices, tools and benefits for LEDS development, explore implications of these strategies on near-term actions and sectoral policies, and generate momentum to respond to the invitation to prepare and submit long term strategies.
Artak Baghdasaryan, the National Expert on Economic Impact of the EU4Climate-Armenia project made a presentation titled “Armenia: Turning challenges into opportunities”, reflecting on the energy production and consumption structures of the country, as well as on GHG emissions projections in the energy sector. In his speech he drew parallels between the economic growth and carbon intensity, outlining the low carbon development trends in Armenia.
Nazik Margaryan, the Senior Specialist from the Renewable Energy Division of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, delivered a presentation about the Climate change mitigation measures being implemented in the Republic of Armenia. She presented the overview of the energy sector, focusing on the development policies and strategies towards renewable energy and energy efficiency, as well as on the necessary activities to be taken for low-carbon development and mitigation of climate change.
Additional information about the workshop
