UfU at Climate Conference in Georgia

The so-called Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) form the heart of the Paris Climate Agreement. Within the NDCs all parties to the agreement formulate their emission reduction and adaptation targets by 2030. However, the targets presented so far are not enough to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Therefore, all contracting states are called upon to revise their goals by 2020 and make them more ambitious. From 2020, the NDCs will be reviewed and updated every five years.

Georgia is also currently revising its national targets and, in addition to the new NDCs, is preparing a Climate Action Plan (CAP) containing sector-specific measures to reduce emissions.

The current state was presented yesterday at the Conference “Nationally Determined Contributions – Challenges for Georgia” in the capital Tbilisi.
The Georgian Ministry of the Environment presented the revised national target formulations, while the non-governmental organization “Greens Movement Georgia / Friends of the Earth Georgia” presented the needed climate goals from the perspective of civil society. Over the last few months, several Georgian civil society organizations have produced a joint paper calling for more ambitions in different sectors.

In addition to the concrete climate contributions, Larissa Donges, project manager in the UfU Department of Environmental Law & Participation, then directed (via live-stream from Berlin) the focus on participation issues within current climate policy processes: Why should civil society actors be involved in the development of NDCs? Which international and national (Georgian) legal requirements for participation exist? Which climate policy participation processes are currently taking place, through which Georgian NGOs can shape the national environment and climate policy? What barriers and challenges hamper participation? And what steps could be taken to improve the conditions for participation and create concrete offers?

The presentation showed the first results of a comprehensive study that UfU is currently preparing. Since 2018, UfU has been working closely with the NGO “Greens Movement Georgia” and other local partners in Georgia on the project “Strengthening civil society in the implementation of national climate policy” funded by the International Climate Initiative. The aim of the project is to strengthen the participation possibilities of civil society in Georgia as well as in Ukraine and Colombia within their national climate policy.

More infomeration about the projekt: https://www.ufu.de/en/projekt/civil-society-climate-policy-1/