With the EU and UNDP support, the Environment Agency will provide reliable data on greenhouse gas emissions

June 10, 2022

The Environment Agency will ensure the quality of the data included in the National Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory in accordance with the Enhanced Transparency Framework of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This information needs to be submitted to the UNFCCC Secretariat every two years.

With the support of the EU4Climate project, funded by EU and implemented by UNDP, the Environmental Agency specialists are trained to use the UNFCCC Guide on Quality Assurance and Quality Control of GHG Emission Data in all sectors of the economy.

"We have a robust and high-performance GHG emission monitoring system and with the help of development partners we want to ensure the sustainability of the processes. We want to make sure that the Environment Agency, but also the other institutions part of the national monitoring, reporting and verification system, have the capacity and all the relevant tools and information from all sources necessary to ensure a high level of transparency," said Rodica Iordanov, State Secretary at the Ministry of Environment.

The Republic of Moldova is the only country in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region that has a robust system for monitoring greenhouse gas emissions (MRV), but still needs to improve its data structure, according to international experts contracted by the EU4Climate project.

"The EU has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent by 2030, compared to the levels of 1990. The Republic of Moldova has an even more ambitious target of reducing emissions by 70 % in the same timeframe. MRV is the mechanism that measures the achievement of these targets and report under the UNFCCC. In order to ensure the transparency, comparability and completeness of this process, there is a need to update the Moldovan MRV legal framework to fulfil the requirements of new EU regulations. The EU4Climate programme is responding to these needs by providing capacity building and supporting the development of the legal framework in this field," Matilda Halling, program officer at the EU Delegation in Chisinau said.

From 1750 to the end of 2021, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere increased by about 50%. This caused the greenhouse effect, with the Earth's atmosphere warming by 1.1° C compared to 1880. By the Paris Agreement, the states committed to keep global warming below 2° C by the end of the century to avoid the catastrophic effects of climate change on humanity.

With a total budget of 8.8 million euros, the EU4Climate project runs from 2019-2022 and has the following components: (i) updating the Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement; (ii) developing low-emission national development strategies by 2050; (iii) introducing and strengthening the framework for monitoring, reporting and verifying greenhouse gas emissions; (iv) alignment with the acquis communautaire in the field of climate; (v) integrating the climate dimension into sectoral policy documents, raising awareness and developing sectoral guidelines for the implementation of the Paris Agreement; (vi) attracting investment in climate change; (vii) better climate change adaptation planning.