On March 30, 2023, a round table on "Citizens' right to live in a clean and healthy environment" was held at "EcoLur" press club organized by "EcoLur" Informational NGO within the framework of the "Be informed about plans and programs of Green cities in Yerevan and Gyumri" project with the support of “CEE Bankwatch Network” global network.
This article presents the response of Yerevan Municipality and Green City project experts regarding the results of "Yerevan Green City Action Plan and its Implementation" report.
Representatives of Yerevan Municipality, RA Environment Ministry, “CEE Bankwatch Network” global network, non-governmental organizations, representatives and experts took part in the discussion.
Nora Martirosyan. Deputy Director of. Yerevan Development Investment PIU, said, “Yerevan’s Green City Action Plan" should be a living document subject to regular revision, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has agreed to this approach and is considering their support in the process of revising and updating the Green City Action Plan.
Gorik Avetisyan, Acting Head of Environmental Protection Department of Yerevan Municipality, said about Yerevan air, “In August 2022, we installed 5 monitoring sensors, the purpose of which is the study of transport pollutants, dust and nitrogen dioxide. We had two months’ data, four of the five stations had satisfactory data, one was within the good range. We are currently negotiating with the Japanese Embassy. We will be given 5 more stations. At that time, the interactive map of Yerevan's air quality will be posted on the official website of Yerevan Municipality."
Dshkhuhi Sahakyan, an expert on biodiversity, ecosystems and land use at REC Caucasus Armenia National Office and that of Green City Action Plan, "One of the initiatives included in Yerevan's Green City Action Plan was RA Law "On Yerevan Downtown". It was introduced at National Assembly and got stuck there. There is no political will to accept it, because the site development in Yerevan downtown will be stopped from the moment the law is passed.
Meri Harutyunyan, Deputy Head of Development and Investment Programs Department at Yerevan Municipality noted, “Within the framework of joining Open Government Partnership initiative in 2022, Yerevan has committed to establishing a "Green Development" platform integrated with the official website of Yerevan Municipality by the end of 2024, where we will be able to find complete and comprehensive information on air pollution, green spaces and effective energy saving programs, and about programs on the use of renewable energy".
Astghine Pasoyan, Director of Foundation to Save Energy, Coordinator of “Yerevan’s Green City Action Plan” national team, noted that the implementation of the components of "Green Cities" program the responsibility is not only placed on Yerevan Municipality, but also on other departments, such as ministries.
Nune Sakanyan, President of "Women in Climate and Energy" NGO, raised the issue of including the gender component in the program, to which it was noted that there is a similar problem in the transport sector. Community Support Coordinator at CEE Bankwatch Network, Mariam Patsatsia responded that there is a similar problem in Georgia as well. “Within the framework of "Green Program" we managed to train female bus drivers in Georgia, but this, in turn, put us in front of another problem, sexual harassment. In fact, 30% of female drivers were subjected to sexual harassment," she outlined.
The representatives of Yerevan Municipality "Greening and Environmental Protection" ANC and civil society also made observations and additions.
April 07, 2023 at 15:50