Energy and Climate Change in Europe & CIS

Energy and Climate Change

Climate change is one of the most important and complex challenges now facing humanity. It is already affecting policy and programming for poverty reduction and natural resource management in Europe and CIS (ECIS). This is particularly the case for increased risks of flooding and droughts that are linked to rising temperatures, and can already be observed. Warming trends in the region are strongest over Northwest Russia and the southern parts of the Balkans, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. Central Asia’s semi-arid and arid climate will likely experience further aridation, which could translate into food and water security issues if adaptation does not take place. Rising sea levels could likewise have significant implications for low lying coastal regions of the Adriatic, Black, and Caspian Sea basins, threatening local settlements, farmlands, ports, and other transport infrastructure.

While most ECIS countries are increasingly suffering from the detrimental effects of climate change, their economies boast significant untapped potential for climate change mitigation by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increasing carbon sinks. Measures to improve energy efficiency, promote renewable or less carbon-intensive energy usage, and introduce modern land, forest and waste management practices represent win-win opportunities from both global climate change and national human development perspectives. With the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol and rapid growth in global carbon markets, new funding windows are available for most RBEC countries to finance climate change mitigation activities, through the Protocol’s Joint Implementation (JI) and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) schemes.

Again this context UNDP’s work on climate change globally and in Europe and CIS is concentrated in two main areas: climate change mitigation and adaptation.

NEW video: Climate change in Kyrgyzstan


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