

On November 22, during the round table discussion on “The Draft Law on Climate Change and Ahead of the New NDC” held at EcoLur Press Club, Aram Gabrielyan, an expert from Khazer Environmental-Cultural NGO, presented a report titled “An Alternative Approach to Addressing Issue of Climate Change.” The discussion was organized within the framework of “Empowering Communities in Armenia Through Participation and Awareness in Climate Policy Implementation” project, implemented in cooperation with the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s South Caucasus Regional Office in Yerevan.
In his presentation, Aram Gabrielyan began with a chronology of global efforts aimed at tackling climate change. “It has been 34 years since the first assessment report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1990. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted in 1992, the Kyoto Protocol (COP3) in 1997, and the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol (COP18) in 2012. The Paris Agreement (COP21) was adopted in 2015.” The Paris Agreement aims to limit temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius, with efforts to cap it at 1.5 degrees. “However, global warming continues and is approaching the 1.5-degree threshold set by the Paris Agreement, with no end in sight,” he noted.
According to Aram Gabrielyan, there were failures by countries that joined the Kyoto Protocol to meet their commitments. Regarding the Paris Agreement, he emphasized that this multilateral treaty does not stipulate any quantitative obligations for reducing greenhouse gas emissions for any specific country. “There is only a limit on the ‘acceptable’ increase in global average temperature. In that sense, it is even a step back from the Kyoto Protocol. Essentially, the Paris Agreement allows climate change to continue, reaching a state corresponding to a 2-degree rise in global average temperature compared to the pre-industrial period. This is the collective goal of the Paris Agreement. But what does ‘global average temperature rise’ mean? Greenhouse gases absorb not temperature, but radiative energy, which transforms into thermal and mechanical energy in the air, partially manifesting as temperature rise. This understanding is essential for grasping the reasons and consequences of increased meteorological hazards,” he explained.
According to the expert, each country decides how to combat climate change under the Paris Agreement. “Thus, the term ‘commitment’ is replaced with ‘contribution.’ This approach is called a bottom-up approach. Essentially, a country can plan to increase its greenhouse gas emissions. For example, according to Armenia’s official NDC position in 2021, the country plans to increase its emissions by 50% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels. The Paris Agreement's bottom-up approach allows such a climate strategy,” Gabrielyan pointed out.
He argued for the need to develop an innovative doctrine for combating climate change, which, unlike the Paris Agreement, would be based on a “top-down” approach and principles of “ecological integrity” and ecosystem-based strategies aligned with “green economy” principles. “It would also be based on equal rights and responsibilities for all people regarding the use of climate resources, regardless of gender, age, origin, or place of residence,” he emphasized.
Aram Gabrielyan outlined the key approaches for this doctrine:
- Do not exceed greenhouse gas emissions beyond nature’s self-recovery capacity.
- Climate change prevention measures should be based on the principle of fairness, stemming from natural human rights.
- Strengthen and deepen regional solidarity to promote ecosystem-based cooperation.
Gabrielyan shared his vision and proposals for implementing this doctrine: “With a top-down approach, distribute emission quotas evenly among countries based on population size as a temporary permissible limit. Additionally, set a zero-balance target for emissions and absorption by a fixed year. This target would facilitate discussions on financing mechanisms.”
Regarding financing sources, Gabrielyan suggested: “A ‘carbon tax’ should be introduced for greenhouse gas emissions based on the ‘polluter pays’ principle, directing the funds to a global climate investment fund. These financial resources would then be distributed among participating countries based on population size as climate investment capital.”
According to the expert, this initiative would address the Paris Agreement’s main flaw — the lack of emission quotas — and establish quantitative obligations for reducing emissions instead of voluntary contributions. “It would enable the full application of international cooperation tools under Articles 6.8 and 6.4 of the Paris Agreement, provide a reliable financial mechanism for adaptation, and lay the groundwork for reducing and compensating ‘loss and damage’ threats under Article 8 of the Paris Agreement by introducing mutual insurance systems. Finally, it would set reasonable quantitative limits for countries' emissions reductions when preparing their updated 5-year NDCs,” he concluded.
This article was prepared within the framework of “Empowering Communities in Armenia Through Participation and Awareness in Climate Policy Implementation” project, implemented in cooperation with the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s South Caucasus Regional Office in Yerevan.
December 10, 2024 at 17:09