EU and EaP countries set targets and action plans to further protect the environment
By Levan Abramishvili
Tuesday, July 2
Under the EU-funded “European Union for Environment” (EU4Environment) program, high-level representatives from Eastern Partner countries, European Union Member States,European Union institutions, international partners took part in an inaugural event in Brussels on 27-28 June.
The event provided the opportunity for all partners to agree on country-specific work plans to improve and implement policies that can spur an environmentally friendly economic growth, and enhance societies’ resilience and citizens’ well-being.
“Our cooperation on environment with the Eastern Partner countries is stronger than ever and is already bringing tangible benefits to the daily lives of citizens across the region. Together the EU and its six Eastern Partners are working to increase our joint ambition to tackle environmental protection and climate challenges. There is no time to lose. Today's meeting has brought all partner together to agree on the next steps forward,” said KatarínaMathernová, Deputy Director-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations at the European Commission.
The countries showedcommittment to actively implement the Sustainable Development Goals and other international commitments, including those tackling climate change under the Paris Agreement.
In addition, within the framework of the Eastern Partnership, the European Union together with all partners have also agreed to certain targets under the “20 Deliverables for 2020”. In this context, the EU4Environment programme is supporting the countries to transition towards greener, more efficient and sustainable economies, as well as to addressing environmental challenges. Complementary measures will be implemented under EU4Climate programme.
EU4Environment builds on the achievements of past EU-funded programmes, which brought important policy changes and enterprise-level measures. For example, previous work has contributed to the adoption of new laws on the environmental assessment of strategies, plans and investment projects in the EaP countries.
Actions are clustered around five priority results:Greener Decision-Making; Circular Economy and New GrowthOpportunities; An Environmental Level Playing Field; Ecosystem Services and Livelihoods; and Knowledge Sharing and Coordination.
EU4Environment is one of the three new environment protection and climate change projects launched in Georgia in April 2019.
One of the other projects is Support to implementation of the environmental provisions of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement, which will help Georgia implement environmental commitments included in the EU-Georgia Association Agreement and will help better protect Georgian nature, decrease pollution and improve the quality of the air.
The third project is the project EU4Climate which will be implemented by the UNDP. This new project is bringing together Georgia and other partners of the Eastern Partnership to tackle Climate Change. This new project will help Georgia lower its greenhouse gas emissions and fulfil its commitments under the Paris Agreement. It will help mitigate climate change and limit its negative impacts on the environment and the life of people.
EU4Environment is project funded by the European Union worth EUR 20 million to support Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine in implementing the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, improving climate policies and legislation, and reducing the impact of climate change on people’s lives.
EU4Environment is working with the six countries to preserve and better use their natural capital, increase people's environmental well-being, bysupporting environment-related action, demonstrating and unlocking opportunities for greenergrowth, and setting mechanisms to better manage environmental risks and impacts.