During the meeting, the priorities of the RA environment sphere, formats for expanding possible cooperation and a number of issues of bilateral interest were discussed.
The Deputy Ministers highly appreciated the Armenian-Swedish cooperation and thanked SIDA for its continued support in the field of the environment in Armenia and touched, in particular, on the UNDP-EIA program "Strengthening community stability through energy efficiency and low-emission development" funded by SIDA (budget-1.1 million US dollars, Duration -January 2022-December 2024), which is currently in the initial stage.
Deputy Minister Gayane Gabrielyan noted that investments in energy efficient and renewable energy carried out in communities, infrastructures and buildings within the framework of the program are extremely important for vulnerable communities and are important from the point of view of green restoration.
The Deputy Minister noted that Armenia highly appreciates SIDA's support in the climate sphere, taking into account our country's ambitious goals for the development and implementation of climate policy and investments established at the national level.
During the meeting, the Armenian-Swedish cooperation in the forest sector was also touched upon.
Deputy Minister Aram Meimaryan noted that there is a good potential for cooperation in this area, given the fact that this area is of mutual interest for the two countries.
The areas of solid waste management were also touched upon.
Armenia has committed to improve the waste management system in accordance with the CEPA agreement ("Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement"), in particular by introducing the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system in Armenia.
A trilateral memorandum will be signed soon between the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure and the American University of Armenia.
The Swedish side also expressed interest in possible cooperation in the field of reclamation of abandoned deposits and tailings dumps.
The draft memorandum of understanding between the RA Ministry of Environment and the Swedish Ministry of Environment on cooperation in the field of nature protection, which was agreed with the concerned agencies, was submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for transmission to the Swedish side, was touched upon.
At the end of the meeting, the parties also summed up the results of the recent "Stockholm+50. a healthy planet for the prosperity of all, our responsibility is "our opportunity", among the 193 participating countries and major international environmental organizations, the Republic of Armenia, represented by Deputy Minister of Environment Aram Meimaryan, also took part.
The Deputy Minister thanked for the organization of the event and hospitality, and then presented the meetings held during the visit and the agreements reached.