April 22, 2021. Rooms Hotel Tbilisi, Zoom – In January 2021, CENN, with the support of the European Union, has commenced new Project – Georgia Climate Action Project (GEO-CAP): Promoting Civil Society Engagement in Climate Change Policy Design and Implementation.
We are glad to announce that on Earth Day, 22 April CENN hosted the kick off meeting of the project in the hybrid format.
The purpose of the kick-off event was to present the project to the stakeholders, to get acquainted with the climate-related processes in Georgia, to identify the links and partnerships between the stakeholders in the climate change sector, and to agree on future activities. That is why the agenda of the meeting was divided into two parts, where the first part was dedicated to the presentation of the project, and the second part was dedicated to the panel discussion on the topic – climate change and the involvement of civil society.
Climate change is already affecting our everyday life, health and economic development through reduction of productivity of the most crops resulting from the draughts, strong winds, unevenly distributed precipitation, hail days, heat waves and evapotranspiration growth.
“Through the European Green Deal and other initiatives, the European Union has made environmental protection and the fight against climate change key priorities, in line with our ambition to be climate neutral by 2050. Here in Georgia our common efforts to protect the environment are advancing year by year, thanks to the actions of the government, of civil society and of so many Georgians aware of the importance of being ambitious in this field.
The Georgian CSOs play a significant role in tackling climate crisis. Through the Georgia Climate Action project, the EU helps empower CSOs and local actors to respond to climate change by building resilience and achieving water security in their communities. The project will be an important element of our joint efforts to create a better future by reinforcing climate friendly behavioral change and collaboration between the state and civil society.
When speaking about the climate change, we should remember that each of our small actions can have a significant impact. By uniting forces we can become movers and shakers when it comes to bringing about the necessary changes. Each citizen, organization, and government institution can become a role model for what a sustainable lifestyle should look like. We welcome CENN’s initiative of uniting important stakeholders and express our support to fight climate crisis for more sustainable and environmentally-friendly Georgia!” – Alexandre DARRAS, Attaché, Team Leader Connectivity, Energy, Environment & Climate change, EU Delegation to Georgia
“Activating the topic of climate change is very important for the better future of our country. We are pleased that the European Union is doing its utmost to meet our international commitments in the climate change sector. I believe that the involvement of each of us is of great importance for the effective management of processes. This new initiative of CENN is really important and we are glad to have a good opportunity to cooperate within the project, through which we will join forces to contribute to the development of the climate change sector “– Nino Tandilashvili, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia.
The event hosted Deputy Minister of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, Ms. Nino Tandilashvili, the representatives from the Ministry of the Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Georgia and other partner organizations in the country. This networking platform was a good opportunity to activate discussion on climate change issues, build connections and partnership opportunities among participants, exchange feedback or suggestions for further development and share experiences.
„Today, we are pleased that CENN, through the implementation of the EU-supported Georgia Climate Program (GEO-CAP), will work on climate change issues and will play an active role in mitigating and adapting to climate change. Since the theme of Earth Day 2021 is climate change, today’s event is symbolic and aims to bring together different stakeholders to discuss the importance of collaborative climate action. Organizing this event on Earth Day is an opportunity for people to participate and express their support for fighting climate change. We thank our donor, the EU, for supporting collaboration between the state and civil society actors to address the climate crisis and unite the forces to promote environmentally-friendly and climate-resilient behavioural change in Georgia.“ – Nana Janashia, Executive Director, CENN.
The (GEO-CAP) project supports Georgia to act on climate change by introducing climate friendly behavior and reinforcing cooperation and trust between state and non-state actors, strengthening the regional CSOs via supporting implementation of concrete initiative together with the local communities and empowering people to engage in advocacy processes that will result a collaborative climate actions in the target regions of the project. CENN will implement the GEO-CAP over the next 4 years, together with partner organisations in 4 target regions (Guria, Imereti, Racha-Lechkhumi, and Kakheti) with the Human Rights-Based Approach approach.
The European Union supported Georgia Climate Action Program (GEO-CAP) is implemented by CENN together with the Kakheti Regional Development Fund (KRDF), the Chiatura Union (ACU), the Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti Agrotourism Development Association (RLS-ADA), and the Young Pedagogue’s Union (YPU). The target municipalities of the project are Gurjaani, Sagarejo, Akhmeta, Zestaponi, Tkibuli, Chiatura, Lanchkhuti, Ozurgeti, Oni, and Ambrolauri. The total budget of the project is 1 million euros.
