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The countries of the South Caucasus are parties to the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change and referred to as Non-Annex I countries
(UNFCCC 2014). Armenia ratified the Convention
in 1993 and the Kyoto Protocol in 2003, Azerbaijan
ratified the Convention in 1995 and the Kyoto Protocol
in 2000, while Georgia ratified the Convention in 1994
and Kyoto Protocol in 1999.
During the last decade these countries have been
mostly reliant on donor support for their climate
related actions. As mitigation activities have become
increasingly important for its international partners,
the focus on actions related to mitigation in the South
Caucasus countries has also increased in prominence.
This has led to a number of initiatives at the national
and local level including the Covenant of Mayors (EU
2014a), to which almost all Georgian self-governing
cities are signatories (13 cities so far), with a further 10
city signatories inArmenia, and one city inAzerbaijan.
The shift of focus to climate change adaptation
is a fairly new phenomenon even for European
countries; the EU itself only formalised its adaptation
strategy in 2013 (EU 2015). Similarly in the South
Caucasus countries, attention is gradually shifting
to adaptation through international processes and
negotiations. However, none of these countries have
yet to establish specific adaptation plans or strategies.
In the case of Georgia, since signing its Association
Agreement with the EU, emphasis has been placed on
Prominence of climate change adaptation in
national policy
the elaboration of a National Adaptation Programme
of Action (NAPA) which is a mandatory component
of the EU Agreement under article 310, which states:
“Based on mutual interests, the cooperation [of the
parties] shall cover,
inter alia
, the development and
implementation of: (a) NAPA” (EU 2014b). Armenia
and Azerbaijan are also making progress and have
committed to develop national adaptation strategies
through different government decisions and policy
documents. However, through analysis of existing
policy papers it is clear that climate change adaptation
is still at an early stage: studies and actions are yet
fragmented and insufficient, while coordination of
actions is scarce.
The prospects for possible cooperation in the
South Caucasus region are very limited. Due to the
geopolitical situation in the region, countries in the
region can’t take full advantage of the opportunities
and benefits of regional cooperation. Joint regional
approaches are therefore lacking, in particular at the
regional policy development level. The only non-
binding policy document, that is recognised by all of
the three countries and which refers to climate change
adaptation in a regional context, is the Ecoregional
Conservation Plan (WWF/CBC 2012).
The focus of this assessment is to provide an overview
and analysis of national policy frameworks and
institutional set-ups related to climate adaptation in
the South Caucasus countries.
Climate adaptation in national laws
All three South Caucasus countries, as parties to the
UNFCCC, formally recognise the provisions and
principles of the Convention and therefore their
national legal frameworks should comply with the
requirements of the convention. In addition to the
UNFCCC, the counties are party to number of other
international treaties that also view climate change
adaptation as a priority area for action – such as the
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), United
Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
(UNCCD) (UNCCD 2012).
The national constitutions of all three countries
state that everyone has a right to live in a healthy
and favourable environment, to have free access
to environmental information and that the state
guaranties implementation of those basic rights
(NARA 1995; President of Azerbaijan 1995;
Parliament of Georgia 2013a). In addition, the
Georgian Constitution considers mountain regions
separately, Article 31 states that: “Special privileges to
ensure the socioeconomic progress of high mountain
regions shall be established by law” (Parliament of
Georgia 2013a).
Another similarity across the three countries in
relation to both climate change adaptation and
mitigation, is the lack of national laws specifically
addressing climate change. However, this should