March 24, 2022. Tbilisi. Fighting against climate change together is crucial. That is why Georgia, with the support of the European Union, continues to fight against climate change through active cooperation with the public, private and civil sectors. Within the framework of the EU-funded project – Georgia Climate Program (GEO-CAP), the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture of Georgia, in cooperation with CENN, hosted the third meeting of the National Climate Platform (NCP).
The third meeting of the NCP was dedicated to the presentation of the 2021 report on the implementation of the Climate Change Action Plan for Georgia 2021-2023 and the review of new EU trends and initiatives in the field of climate change. Also, during the meeting, representatives of various organizations held a presentation of current initiatives in the field of climate change. The parties also reviewed the results achieved so far under the EU-supported project – Georgian Climate Program (GEO-CAP) and the activities planned for 2022.
“When we think about climate change, we shouldn’t forget about the importance of negotiations, the key to success is the capacity for all of us to take a part in this process. Many actions in Georgia have already taken start, one of the reasons we are supporting GEO-CAP. This platform is a very important tool to create a link between stakeholders, local and private sector and recontribute together to the policy and to implement it. Please, when you use this platform, do it in a critical way. We are working together to fight climate change.”- Alexandre Darras, Attaché, Connectivity, Energy, Environment & Climate Change Team Leader, Delegation of the European Union to Georgia
During the meeting, the participants got acquainted with the 2021 report on the implementation of the Climate Change Action Plan for 2021-2023.
„It is important to have the NCP to involve the public in performance monitoring. Each member of the NCP has the opportunity to present their initiatives and the various projects presented at today’s meeting, which is being implemented in different sectors, are an example of this. This platform unites the private and public sectors, its main goal is to ensure public involvement in climate change, which is interesting and important for all stakeholders“ – Nino Tkhilava, Head of Environment and Climate Change Department of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture
The meeting was attended by the EU Delegation to Georgia, representatives of the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture of Georgia, academia, non-governmental organizations and the private sector.
The NCP brings together stakeholders in the field of climate change – government, donor organizations, scientific institutions, non-governmental organizations and the private sector. NCP aims to promote the effective involvement of stakeholders in the process of climate change.
With the support of the EU, in 2021 CENN launched the Georgia Climate Program (GEO-CAP). The project supports Georgia to act on climate change by introducing climate friendly behaviour and reinforcing cooperation and trust between state and non-state actors, strengthening regional CSOs via supporting the implementation of concrete initiatives together with local communities and empowering people to engage in advocacy that will result in 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.
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.