10 Towns in Armenia Committed to Reduce CO2 Emissions by 20% Till 2020

10 Towns in Armenia Committed to Reduce CO2 Emissions by 20% Till 2020

EcoLur

The Nature Protection Ministry organized a discussion with the community heads having joined EU ‘Covenant of Mayors’ initiative towards the 21st convention of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Out of Armenian towns joined the EU ‘Covenant of Mayors’ Spitak, Tsaghkadzor and Vayq have already developed programs aimed at reducing the volume of emissions, while the other towns are in different stages of development. Under Nature Protection Minister Aramayis Grigoryan, all the countries having joined the convention shall undertake commitment to take actions aimed at reduction or limitation of greenhouse gas emissions starting from 2020. Clear and transparent information shall be presented about the actions.

UNDP Climate Change Programme Coordinator Diana Harutyunyan mentioned that towns are in charge of 40-70% of national emissions. “Developed countries must ensure financial and technological support and supplement Green Climate Fund. Developed countries have already contributed 11 billion USD in this fund. After 2020 each year 100 billion USD shall be added for the performance of the commitment, which will be both grant and special loaning funds,” Diana Harutyunyan said.

“Taking into consideration that energy carriers get more expensive, and energy efficiency is not only environmental, but also energetic and national safety problems, energy efficiency shall be one of the key components of any development program, if not the most important one. We aim to reach 20% energy efficiency,” said Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Hayk Harutyunyan.

At the end of the meeting Minister Aramayis Grigoryan told the mayor, “We shall be aware and realize, if we don’t perform the commitments we have undertaken, we may experience some problems connected with certain processes.”

Total greenhouse gas emissions in Armenia account for 0.018% of the global emissions, per capita emission is 2.4 tons on average, in case when the average global indicator of emissions per capita is 6.5 tons.

   

The “EcoLur” Informational NGO is organizing series of events aimed at public involvement  and awareness raising targeted to the future climate change policy directions and development of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) of the Republic of Armenia under UN Climate Change Framework Convention (UNFCCC).

The material is prepared by 'EcoLur' Informational NGO under UNDP Climate Change Program, within the framework of ARM-002/2015 Contract. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the United Nations, including UNDP, or the UN Member States.

March 30, 2015 at 18:03