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includes a section on climate change. Though it
is mainly focused on mitigation actions, the law
also defines the responsibilities of the Ministry of
Environment and Natural Resources Protection, and
states that it is responsible “for organizing measures on
climate adaptation and mitigation”.
The Law of Georgia on the State Budget for 2014
(Parliament of Georgia 2013b) envisaged preparation,
in 2014, of the National Action Plan on adaptation
to climate change and implementation of special
adaptation measures. The law also outlined the need
for specific mitigation actions such as development
of the Low Emission Development Strategy (LEDS),
specified in turn, under the Cancun Agreements of
the UNFCCC. Yet, implementation of adaptation
measures was not included in the State Budget of the
following year of 2015 (Parliament of Georgia 2014).
In 2013, the Parliament of Georgia adopted the
National Forest Concept for Georgia (see more details
in the section – Sectoral Policy papers) that stipulates
the need for adaptation action in the country’s forests.
In terms of mountain regions and ecosystems,
mountain-related legislation in the South Caucasus
countries has been limited to:
• The newly adopted Georgian Law on the
Development of High Mountain Regions
(Parliament of Georgia 2015), which considers
only social and economic issues; and
• Certain references to mountain regions in the
sectoral legislation of all three countries, but again
in only a social and economic context.
Thus,thecountriesacknowledgetheneedtospecifically
address the social and economic development in
mountain regions under national laws, but do not
consider the need for specific conservation or climate
change actions.
Climate adaptation policy
The development of adaptation policies to adequately
address the challenges of climate change, and its
impact on physical infrastructure, the environment,
cultural heritage and/or the economy, should be
a priority for mountainous countries in the South
Caucasus. However, due to a number of reasons
Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia still do not have
comprehensive climate adaptation policies that
include climate change adaptation plans and/or
strategies. Nevertheless, all three countries have
declared the need for development of NAPs:
Armenia through the Government Decree on
Approval of the Action Plan of the Republic of
Armenia on Obligations Emanating from a Number
of International Environmental Conventions made a
commitment to develop a climate change adaptation
concept with an ecosystem approach and a NAPA.
In April 2015, the government outlined its plan in
its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions
(INDC) statement, which covered mitigation and
adaptation measures using an ecosystems approach.
The INDC states that the natural ecosystems
approach is pivotal for its adaptation strategy and
actions/contributions and a basis for development
Avalanche in Georgia