Hasmik Dilanyan
How climate change affects the most vulnerable communities. How to overcome energy poverty and reach a level of sustainable development? Environmentalists are looking for answers to these questions.
Pambak, Talin, Yeghegis, Dilijan: these four communities of Armenia, different in terms of geographical and climatic characteristics, have, so to speak, appeared in the observation point of environmentalists. According to Victoria Burnazyan, Deputy President of "EcoLur" Information NGO, “"Our communities are still dependent on firewood. This year already, residents in Lori are offered 3 cubic meters of loose firewood, while the government's decision is 8 cubic meters.
The government is trying to reduce the pressure on the forests, Victoria Burnazyan records, while noting that there are no clear measures on how, for example, villagers should heat their apartments with electricity in winter, rather than gas or firewood.
"All four communities are vulnerable to climate change. In this case, Tallinn is the most vulnerable community, the temperature is high, and it is the leader in the number of summer days with deviation. But it is surprising that the second city is Dilijan, which is the leader in the number of summer days with deviation.
SHPPs, for example, have caused a decrease in water flow in many rivers in Armenia. The Yeghegis river is the most striking example in Vayots Dzor Region, Victoria Buranzyan says, “SHPPs have not only destroyed the river ecosystem, but the springs have dried up because of them. Residents claim that it is a consequence of the operation of SHPPs. This has led to climate change."
One of the outcomes of “Impacted communities and civil society organizations as participants in the introduction of socio-ecological culture in the energy and climate change policies of Armenia” project is the development of proposal package to give radical and final solution to the problems existing in the communities.
September 22, 2023 at 13:00