The communities of Armenia join "Covenant of Mayors" initiated by the European Union.
Currently, 15 communities of Armenia have an active status in the "Covenant of Mayors". Another 15 communities have a suspended status. By joining the Covenant, communities voluntarily commit to implementing projects that will contribute to overcoming climate challenges and the sustainable development of communities. 12 communities have already developed their action plans.
During the recently held "Sustainable Community Energy Development" conference, the parties to the Covenant, communities, state, international, non-governmental organizations discussed the programs aimed at the development of "green" energy. The conference was held within the framework of the "EU Sustainable Energy Week 2023" under the "Covenant of Mayors East" program.
Andrea Baggioli, International Aid/Cooperation Officer of the EU Delegation to Armenia, noted: "We have cooperation with the government of Armenia within the framework of bilateral contracts and agreements, among which is the "Covenant of Mayors", within the framework of which 2 tranches have already been allocated. Now we are in the stage of implementation of the 3rd tranche. We talked with the Armenian government and agreed that we will increase the share of renewable energy."
"We are sure that Armenian communities have an important driving force for changes at the local level. Our team's experts provide technical and capacity building support to the communities," said Mikael Matossian, Acting Deputy Head of USAID Armenia's Energy Security Program.
Artem Kharazyan, Expert of "Covenant of Mayors East" project, presented the achievements and challenges of the "Covenant of Mayors" in Armenia. "The first target of the treaty is the mitigation of climate change, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the second is the adaptation of the consequences of climate change, the third is the overcoming of energy poverty, which is a new component, introduced about a year ago. It is not yet mandatory for our communities, but from 2024, the communities must also assess the level of energy poverty in their area and propose measures to overcome it," Artem Kharazyan said.
The expert emphasized that it is important for communities to have energy managers. The lack of a systematic information base on the consumption of energy resources, the lack of event monitoring data are also among the obstacles.
Vardan Karapetyan, Senior Program Manager of the Asian Development Bank, spoke about the challenges faced by the donor in the case of community projects. "The programs are most concentrated in Yerevan.
We have a framework credit agreement of 400 million USD with the government. The last tranche with a budget of more than 100 million dollars was aimed at the development of communities outside Yerevan. After being in a pending state for 8-10 years, it was never requested by the government and, unfortunately, we never got that opportunity to work with the communities. I reaffirm the readiness of our bank to work outside Yerevan," Vardan Karapetyan noted.
June 28, 2023 at 17:14