Climate and disaster reslience

Challenges

The Republic of Armenia is a small landlocked country with complex mountainous topography and exhibits both a great range of altitudinal variation and a diversity of climatic zone. This has resulted in a diversity of landscapes and ecological communities making Armenia globally of importance as a center of endemism for wild relatives of economically important crop and livestock species. However, high level of rural poverty, over-exploitation of natural capital, limited application of environmentally sound technologies in agriculture and industry resulted in loss of habitats and species, pollution and chemical contamination, degradation of forest, water and other ecosystems and their functionality.

In addition to anthropogenic impact, the climate change represents an additional significant factor of threat to already at-risk mountain ecosystems and economic sectors. Geographical peculiarities aggravated by climate change factor make country one the most prone to natural hazards in the Europe and Central Asia region with more than 80 percent of the population exposed.

Armenia is dependent on imported hydrocarbons, including fuel for transport, and gas for residential and industrial purposes, and for one-third of the electricity generation. Fuel prices show rising trends, making low-income households, which spend 10 percent of their income on electricity and gas, more vulnerable. Though promotion of low-carbon development and introduction of energy-efficient technologies, including renewables, are recognized as crucial part of economic reforms, limited practices in application of environmentally sound technologies in addition to the fact of degradation of natural capital and high level of pollution recorded in the country are likely to pose an additional burden on the government in the long-term perspectives.

Projects and Initiatives

More than 60.6 km 

LED street lighting in 18 CITIES

The new energy efficient system generates 1300MWh annual energy savings, averaging 60 percent cost efficiency. Revolving municipal funds were established in each city to ensure transparent and targeted use of savings for expansion of similar activities under the cities’ ownership.