Armenia`s Deputy Prime Minister discussed climate risk reduction funding with the head of FRLD

ArmInfo. Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Khachatryan met with a delegation led by Ibrahima Cheikh Diongou, Executive Director of the Fund for the Prevention and Control of Loss and Damage (FRLD), to discuss climate risk reduction financing.

According to the press service of the Armenian government, the delegation arrived to participate in the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17). In this regard, during the meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia emphasized that the priority of the country's COP17 Presidency is to facilitate the mobilization of financial resources for environmental conservation and restoration, as well as to ensure the transparency and accountability of this funding.

In the context of the climate vulnerability of landlocked countries, the interlocutors discussed in detail the consequences of the May 2024 floods in the Lori and Tavush regions and the steps taken by the government to address them. Both sides emphasized the importance of effective disaster risk management, both through assessing and preventing threats and by reducing the vulnerability of populations, settlements, and infrastructure, as well as developing relevant capacities.

In this vein, Grigoryan and Diong also discussed the content of Armenia's first funding application of approximately $6.8 million submitted to the Fund, emphasizing its importance in strengthening national capacity to respond to future climate events.

The FRLD is the UN's international climate mechanism created to help developing countries combat the economic and non-economic consequences of climate change. Armenia applied for funding from the Fund in late October. According to the Armenian Ministry of Environment, the country submitted its first application seeking $6.8 million to restore communities in the Lori and Tavush regions affected by the 2024 floods, as well as to restore transport infrastructure and river ecosystems, and to support vulnerable groups.