On October 19, a joint press conference was held by COP17 President and RA Environment Minister Hambardzum Matevosyan and Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. The press conference addressed several important issues related to environmental governance and community inclusion.
At the end of the press conference, taking the opportunity to ask Environment Minister a question, EcoLur journalist Zhanna Sargsyan raised the issue of proposed legislative amendments concerning soil management, currently published on the E-draft legal acts platform. Specifically, the draft proposes a mechanism that would allow an operator to proceed to the environmental impact assessment (EIA) examination stage without prior consent from the local self-government body.
EcoLur asked whether such a policy was compatible with the principles of inclusiveness proclaimed at COP17 and Armenia’s international commitments to ensure community participation in decision-making.
The Minister’s Response: “Aldermen’s Council Often Makes Discretionary or Political Decisions”
In response to EcoLur’s question, Environment Minister assured the audience that communities were not being excluded from the agenda, citing as evidence the unprecedented participation of community heads in the Leaders’ Summit on October 16. He also announced that a separate forum dedicated to local self-government bodies was planned as part of COP17, bringing together community leaders and representatives from Armenia and other countries (for example, the Deputy Mayor of Beijing was already in Armenia).
Addressing the legislative amendment itself and the risks of disregarding the community’s voice, the Minister stated: “If I am not mistaken, this provision concerns the Aarhus Convention. This decision does not violate any provision of the Convention. Under the current procedures, the community effectively acts as the decision-making body without having the necessary technical expertise. Without thoroughly examining the projects or having an expert assessment, they make discretionary or political decisions and then apply to us, asking us to conduct an EIA study. Yet we are not authorized to do so unless Aldermen’s Councilhas issued a positive decision. With this draft, we are improving our ability to help communities.”
Deputy Environment Minister: “Council’s Decision Will Be Advisory”
Further clarification was provided by Deputy Environment Minister Aram Mkrtchyan, who noted that the draft had been developed by the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure (MTAI).
“Currently, the first stage of the EIA process takes place in communities, where Aldermen’s Council decides whether the proposed activity is permissible. Under the draft submitted by the MTAI, the Council’s participation is not excluded; however, its decision will have the same advisory status as all other considerations, including expert assessments,” the Deputy Minister explained.
Responding to EcoLur’s observation that the draft would effectively eliminate an intermediate stage, leaving local self-government bodies unable to examine the expert assessment and make a decision before an EIA permit is issued, Aram Mkrtchyan noted that the document was still at the draft stage.
“We have formulated the Ministry of Environment’s professional position, but the draft still needs to be discussed by the ministerial committee and with other government agencies. Naturally, many changes will still be made. A solution must be found that ensures community participation and makes its decisions objective and oriented towards nature conservation rather than serving other interests. Communities must under no circumstances be deprived of the opportunity to participate in decision-making, as this would constitute a violation of our international commitments.
Making expert opinion the basis for community decisions could be one of the proposals put forward by Environment Ministry. It will be formulated in writing, submitted, and discussed,” the Deputy Minister concluded.
Thus, although Environment Ministry assures the public that the proposed amendments are intended to place professional assessments at the heart of decision-making and prevent local self-government bodies from making “political decisions,” while in no way disregarding the voices of communities, civil society remains concerned that reducing the community’s role to an advisory one could seriously restrict the right of affected communities to have a decisive say in matters concerning their living environment.
October 20, 2026 at 16:43