New EU4Climate study highlights EaP countries’ commitment to climate action at COP 27

A comparative analysis of the Long-Term Low Emissions Development Strategies in the Eastern Partnership countries (EaP) was presented on 10 November 2022 at a COP 27 side event hosted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

As countries come together to take action toward achieving the world’s collective climate goals agreed under the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Long-Term Low Emissions Development Strategies (LT-LEDS) are recognised as one of the key national planning exercises for the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

“Helping our Eastern Partners to mitigate climate change and to advance on the path towards carbon neutrality is a clear priority for the EU”, said Lawrence Meredith, Director for the EU`s Eastern Neighbourhood and Institution Building at the European Commission. “With the regional programme EU4Climate, we are facilitating this process by helping our partner countries to develop Low-Emissions Development Strategies as the foundation for building a resource-efficient, low emission, and climate-resilient economy.”

The comparative study presented at the event focuses on the targets set in the draft LEDS, particularly on additional NDCs targets regarding adaptation and gender equality, and on the EU role in assisting the region with increasing long-term ambition in EaP countries. With their ambitions, Armenia and Georgia state that climate neutrality is the goal for 2050. Gender-responsive energy policy in Azerbaijan through the usage of hydropower, solar and wind energy, and energy efficiency empowers women and leads to improved well-being, gender equality and social justice. In Moldova, the LEDS covers only the time until 2030 and lays down the action plan to implement the NDC2. Here, it should be noted that Moldova’s NDC2 target for 2030 is the one with the highest ambition. Ukraine’s ambition is to achieve climate neutrality by 2060.

EU4Climate helps governments in the six EU Eastern Partner countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine) to take action against climate change and towards a low-emissions and climate-resilient economy. Funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by UNDP, EU4Climate supports countries in implementing the Paris Agreement and improving climate policies and legislation with an ambition of limiting climate change impact on citizens’ lives and making them more resilient to it.

For more information, please access: bit.ly/EU4Climate_study