Published:
The second Environmental Performance Review (EPR) of Armenia builds on the substantial experience accumulated by the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) and its member States in using the EPR tool to regularly assess progress achieved in reconciling national economic and environmental objectives. The second EPR of Armenia takes stock of progress made in the governance and management of the environment since 2011 and makes recommendations for the country to implement. In addition, the second EPR looks into developments related to the country’s attainment of relevant targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The review covers legal and policy frameworks and compliance assurance mechanisms. It also focuses on greening the economy, environmental information, monitoring and assessment, public participation and education for sustainable development. At the domestic–international interface, it addresses climate change issues and includes a substantive analysis of the country’s participation in and commitments to international agreements. The EPR also examines the efforts of Armenia to integrate environmental considerations into its policies in the agriculture, energy, industry, transport and health sectors. Furthermore, the EPR addresses issues of specific importance to Armenia related to air protection, water management, waste and chemicals management, biodiversity and protected areas and soil conservation. Finally, the review includes an assessment of 72 SDG targets, with 15 targets being reviewed in several chapters from different perspectives. In some cases, a comprehensive analysis of SDGs and targets is hindered by the lack of data and information.
The second EPR of Armenia began in December 2021 with a preparatory mission to agree on the structure of the report and the schedule for its completion. A team of international experts took part in the country review mission from 12 to 23 March 2022. During its meeting on 12–16 September 2022, the ECE Expert Group on EPRs discussed the draft report with a delegation from Armenia, focusing on the conclusions and recommendations made by the international experts. The recommendations, with suggested amendments from the Expert Group, were then submitted for peer review to the ECE Committee on Environmental Policy at its special session in Nicosia on 3–4 October 2022, which was attended by a delegation from Armenia. The Committee adopted the EPR recommendations.
The ECE Committee on Environmental Policy and the ECE secretariat are grateful to the Government of Armenia and its experts who worked with the international experts and contributed their knowledge and expertise. ECE would also like to express its deep appreciation to the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection and the German Federal Environment Agency for their support by providing funds through the Advisory Assistance Programme for this review. Furthermore, ECE takes this opportunity to thank the Federal Ministry on Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology of Austria and the Federal Office for the Environment of Switzerland for their financial support to the EPR Programme.
Sincere thanks also go to France, Hungary, Portugal and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for having provided their experts to this review. Furthermore, ECE is grateful to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for having provided substantive and logistical support, and to the United Nations Country Team in Armenia for its support of this review.
In addition, ECE expresses its deep appreciation to Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Montenegro and Switzerland for having provided their experts for the ECE Expert Group on Environmental Performance Reviews, which undertook the expert review of this report.