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Armenia
Armenia established the Inter-Agency Coordination
Council on Climate Change in 2012 (Prime Minister
of Armenia 2012). The Council is composed of the
representatives of 14 ministries, 2 independent state
agencies, the Armenian Public Services Regulatory
Commission, the Armenian National Academy
of Sciences, and the UNFCCC National Focal
Point. The Chair of the Council is the Minister of
Nature Protection. The Council was established
to implement UNFCCC provisions, in particular,
to implement measures defined by the Decree on
“Approval of the Action Plan of RA Obligations
Emanating from a Number of International
Environmental Conventions” (Government of the
Republic of Armenia 2011). The Council safeguards
cooperation between regional, intergovernmental
and international organizations, participatory
approaches with regard to communities, civil society
and the scientific community, and capacity building.
It meets twice a year and, between meetings, uses
formal channels of intergovernmental cooperation.
To support the operations of the Council a working
group was established comprised of representatives
of state agencies, as well as climate change experts
(MoNP 2015).
Azerbaijan
To ensure coordination to meet the country’s
commitments to the UNFCCC, the State
Commission on Climate Change was established
(President of Azerbaijan 1997). The Climate
Change and Ozone Centre within the mentioned
ministry served as a secretariat for the Commission.
National coordination mechanisms on climate adaptation
At present, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural
Resources coordinates all reporting processes under
the framework of the UNFCCC Convention, and
also ensures coordination of climate action among
government agencies. Besides this, the Ministry is
nominated as the designated authority to represent
the country at the Adaptation Fund. Moreover, before
submission of the National Communications to the
UNFCCC, the Ministry submits it to the Cabinet of
Ministers to begin the state approval process, where
related line ministries provide their comments and
suggestions to the relevant sectoral parts.
Georgia
The Government Commission on Climate Change
was established in 1996 (President of Georgia 1996).
The Chair of the Commission was the Minister of
Environment and Natural Resources Protection.
Under the same decree, the National Climate Change
Programme and composition of the Commission
were approved. However, the decree was repealed,
and the programme closed in 2005. At this stage
no formal inter-agency national coordination
mechanism on climate adaptation exists. Though
the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources
Protection remain responsible body for climate
adaptation action planning and coordination at
national level.
For the purpose of providing input to the National
Communications, there are national working groups
within all three countries, representing all related
ministries and state agencies, the academic and
private sector and NGOs. However, it is rare that
these working groups include representatives of the
local authorities and the local population.
In contrast, international and non-governmental
organizations deploy a more inclusive approach when
implementing projects for development of regional/
local/municipal climate strategies or actions;
establishing working groups or steering committees
that typically include both local authorities and local
population representatives.