

EcoLur examined the alignment of Yerevan Master Plan, adopted in 2024, with the targets of Yerevan Green City Action Plan. The study was conducted with the support of "CEE Bankwatch Network" international organization within the framework of “Assessment of Yerevan Municipality’s and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s Commitments under Yerevan's Green City Action Plan” project.
The results were presented during the roundtable at EcoLur Press Club, attended by Acting Head of Environmental Department of Yerevan Municipality, Sirarpi Haykazyan, Deputy Head Gorik Avetisyan, representative of “CEE Bankwatch Network” international organization Arthur Grigoryan, Head of Air Quality Monitoring Service at "Hydrometeorology and Monitoring Center" of Environment Ministry, Gohar Hakobyan, Expert of Standing Committee on Territorial Administration, Local Self-Government, Agriculture, and Environmental Protection of the National Assembly, Hermine Poghosyan, Hygienist from Environmental Hygiene Department of National Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Health Ministry, Arayik Papoyan, Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center’s Program Manager Aren Manukyan and Program Assistant Meri Minasyan, National Coordinator of the Aarhus Convention Mari Chakryan, Coordinator of Yerevan Aarhus Center Silva Ayvazyan, President of “Armenian Women for Health and Healthy Environment” NGO Elena Manvelyan, journalist from "Nouvelles d'Arménie" Olivier Merlet, journalist from Armenian Public Radio Nune Avetisyan, and the EcoLur team.
EcoLur President NGO Inga Zarafyan noted that dialogue between state structures and civil society will support actions that contribute to creating a comfortable and green city.
The objective of GCAP is to promote Yerevan’s economic and social growth, mitigate the negative impact of human activity on the environment, and improve the quality of Yerevan’s environmental assets, thereby guaranteeing an improved quality of life for residents.
Yerevan’s Master Plan is a forecasting document defining the city’s development strategy until the next urban planning document is created. It is based on documentation of the current situation and an objective assessment of potential economic opportunities.
EcoLur’s Deputy President Victoria Burnazyan presented the report entitled “Alignment of Yerevan’s New Master Plan with the Targets of Yerevan’s Green City Action Plan,” which analyzed sections of the Master Plan and the Green City Action Plan related to atmospheric air, water, waste, green spaces, and energy.
Atmospheric Air
The strategic goal of the Green City Plan by 2030 is to ensure that key pollutant levels do not exceed those required by the World Health Organization’s “Air Quality Guidelines” or the “Clean Air for Europe” program. To achieve this, all major sources of emissions should be identified and regulated. An integrated system for air quality monitoring and pollution modeling, as well as an interactive online pollution map, will be created. WHO air quality standards will be consistently met.
The Master Plan identifies air cleanliness, household waste management, and the isolation of the Nubarashen landfill, along with the reclamation of mining sites and the cleaning of surface waters, as the main environmental improvement objectives. Victoria Burnazyan noted, however, that measures such as increasing green spaces, preserving biodiversity, and combating climate change are not mentioned in the Master Plan.
Measures in the Master Plan for combating air pollution include:
- Construction sites must be covered with a dense mesh of at least 180 g/m².
- Bulk materials such as sand, cement, gravel, and soil must be stored in enclosed spaces or covered with impermeable sheeting. Transport of such materials must also be covered.
- Construction sites classified as risk levels 4 and 5 must have air quality monitoring equipment installed throughout the construction process, providing online access to data with calibration possibilities for the community.
- Five air quality monitoring devices were provided to Yerevan Municipality within the framework of the "Introduction of Sustainable Urban Transport in Yerevan" program. These devices, installed in 2022, provide automated data on dust and transport pollutants.
Burnazyan highlighted that Yerevan has yet to meet the strategic goal of the Green City Plan for clean air. She noted that the requirements to reduce dust emissions are not consistently followed by all businesses and that some measures outlined in Armenia’s "Law on Atmospheric Air Protection," such as spraying construction sites with water and cleaning truck tires, are absent in the Master Plan.
The Master Plan identifies 15 abandoned mines and includes a project to zero out, close, and reclaim the remaining reserves of the Jrvezh gypsum-bearing clay and basalt mines. However, measures to prevent dust emissions from the 17 non-metallic mines and stone-processing facilities operating in Yerevan under 14 companies are not included in the plan.
“The reclamation of the gypsum-containing clay and basalt quarry and its surrounding areas is insufficient to reduce dust emissions from the sector. In addition to abandoned quarries, the issue also includes the prevention of dust emissions into the atmosphere from 17 non-metallic mines and stone processing workshops in 14 organizations that have mineral rights in Yerevan. The obligation to protect the atmosphere, which was taken on through mining contracts, is not being properly fulfilled by miners. The plan does not outline measures for the regulation of this issue,” said Victoria Burnazyan.
To reach the goal set for air quality in Yerevan’s Green City Program, the measures planned in the "Environmental Protection Measures" section of the plan are insufficient.
The plan notes that in 2024, automobilization in Yerevan exceeded the similar indicators of the main plan from 2005-2020 by 2.2 times.
The plan does not mention the creation of bicycle lanes, which would reduce emissions and align with the strategic goal of Yerevan’s "Green City" program.
Victoria Burnazyan noted that all sources of air pollution have not been identified in the plan, and solutions have not been proposed. Such an objective is set in Yerevan’s "Green City" action plan. According to Yerevan’s 2023 development plan, around 400 organizations are registered in Yerevan that negatively impact the atmosphere.
The plan does not propose a solution for urban ventilation.
Waste
The strategic goals of Yerevan Green City Action Plan until 2030 are to ensure that 100% of the generated urban solid household waste and other waste is placed in proper waste management or waste treatment facilities and is managed according to EU standards.
According to the plan, the isolation and closure of the Nubarashen landfill is one of the optimal solutions in terms of improving the current situation at the landfill and neutralizing it. This is considered within the context of a comprehensive waste management program, which will include the construction of a new sanitary landfill, waste sorting, and recycling.
According to EcoLur’s observations, the construction of a new sanitary landfill and the reclamation of the Nubarashen landfill have uncertain timelines. The solution to this issue was the first short-term measure of Yerevan Green City Program and was supposed to be implemented between 2018-2022. Yerevan has not achieved the set goal.
Water
The main issue selected in the plan for improving the environmental situation is the “Surface Water Cleaning/Regarding Lake Yerevan and the River.” The plan mentions that in the area of Lake Yerevan, work has been carried out to clean the water section along the shore from household solid waste, and a trash-catching grille has been installed on the Hrazdan River. Around 650 truckloads of garbage have been removed from Lake Yerevan, amounting to 13,000 cubic meters. In 2022, work began on building a new public park in the cleaned areas of Lake Yerevan, which was completed in 2024. The Environmental Department has carried out mapping work on areas in Lake Yerevan and the Hrazdan River that need to be cleaned, with the mapped areas totaling around 15 hectares. Work is ongoing to install two more garbage catchers. In 2023, cleaning work was carried out in the Hrazdan River channel. Around 10,000 cubic meters of waste were removed. The cleaning work in the Hrazdan River channel continues this year.
In the plan’s “Baseline Data” subsection, several issues related to water resource management are presented, which have not been reflected in the plan’s “Main Directions for Improving the Environmental Situation.”
Specifically, the demand for water for drinking and production purposes will increase. The demand for drinking water, which is currently 254,563 thousand cubic meters/day, will reach 330,932 thousand cubic meters/day in the future. The increase in demand for drinking water has not been considered an issue in the plan, nor have solutions been proposed to address this in conditions of anticipated water scarcity.
ccording to the plan, out of the 13 drinking water sources in Yerevan, the reserves of 5 are not confirmed. The reserves of 3 sources need to be reviewed or reassessed. Only 2 sources have confirmed reserves.
Water extraction is carried out under conditions of uncertainty, posing risks to the depletion of water resources, maintaining ecological balance, and meeting the city’s water demand.
Regarding floods, the plan states: ‘Despite the fact that serious studies directed at flood occurrence in areas near Yerevan have not been conducted over the past 20-30 years, it can be noted that the risk of flooding has significantly decreased due to the development of potentially flood-prone areas, landscaping, improvement of flood channels, increasing their capacity, etc.’”
A comparative study of the strategic goals of Yerevan Green City Action Plan and the water section of the new plan shows that the goals of the Green City Program have not been considered in the plan.
Greenery
The strategic goal of GCAP is to increase the ratio of open green spaces per capita to more than 10 square meters by 2030. As of 2024, the ratio of open green spaces per capita in Yerevan is 8.3 square meters, according to the plan. This figure is close to the short-term target set by the Green City Program, which aims to reach more than 8.5 square meters per capita by 2022, and 10 square meters per capita by 2030. According to the new plan, Yerevan, through the proposed measures, aims to achieve 10 square meters per capita, which aligns with the strategic goal of the Green City Program.
Energy
One of the strategic goals of Yerevan Green City Program until 2030 is to achieve a 30% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to the 2012 baseline, in accordance with the updated “Covenant of Mayors” in the climate and energy sectors, and to achieve a 20% reduction in average energy consumption in public buildings. A continuous stimulation program will be established to support the energy efficiency of residential buildings through public outreach and small-scale demonstration projects, among other means.
According to the plan, if the average annual electricity consumption per capita in the city was 580 kWh in 2002 (about 1.6 kWh/day), by 2023 it had risen to 801 kWh (about 2.2 kWh/day). If this growth trend in electricity demand is maintained, by 2030, these figures will increase to 865 kWh (about 2.4 kWh/day).
The growth in consumption will be largely due to the following factors:
- Energy-intensive calculations (data processing centers, mining, etc.)
- Electric vehicle charging infrastructure
- Air conditioning and cooling systems.
According to EcoLur’s observations, Yerevan has made significant progress in terms of energy efficiency and energy conservation. However, in writing the “Electric Power Supply” subsection of the plan, these issues, as well as the strategic goals of Yerevan’s Green City Program, were not addressed.
The Head of Environmental Department of Yerevan Municipality, Sirarpi Haykazyan, presented her observations. She mentioned that last year, Yerevan city government became a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Within this partnership, work is being carried out to grant protected area status to the Hrazdan Gorge. “An 11-month study was conducted in the section of the Hrazdan Gorge located within Yerevan’s administrative boundaries. The flora, fauna, and historical monuments were inventoried,” Haykazyan stated.
She also noted that at the end of 2024, the new facility for preliminary biological treatment and garbage catchers was commissioned in the capital, which will prevent the entry and accumulation of waste in the Getar and Hrazdan rivers.
Regarding the reclamation of mines in the capital, Sirarpi Haykazyan stated that efforts are being made to understand which method can be used to close the mines. “This is not a matter for one department; it’s an issue of calculating and recalculating reserves, and we hope a solution will be found,” she said, adding that the reclamation of mines will be financed using the Environmental Protection Fund.
To improve air quality in the atmosphere, a mandatory requirement has been set to perform sprinkling and washing of the wheels of outgoing trucks at construction sites.
New bike lanes will be developed in the capital, and green transport will be promoted.
January 15, 2025 at 17:08