The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia (MEPA), has been implementing the Green Climate Fund (GCF) funded project “Strategic Readiness to Support the Updated NDC and its Climate Action for Georgia”. The project aims to support the agriculture sector transformation in Georgia through low-emissions and climate-resilient pathways.

An agriculture roadmap is being developed in the framework of the project, aligning with Georgia’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and its 2030 Climate Change Strategy. Progress made up until now as well as preliminary information was presented on a national consultation meeting on 9 September 2024, gathering input from diverse stakeholders, including civil society organizations, academia, and the private sector who work in the field of climate change and agriculture.

A three-day climate change and agriculture training session was held on 10-12 September 2024. The participants discussed global and national contexts of climate change, opportunities and challenges in the agrifood sector, priorities of international climate funds, project idea formulation and design, monitoring and reporting on national climate change goals in mitigation and adaptation. A separate session was dedicated to gender mainstreaming in the agrifood sector, led by a Gender and Social Protection specialist from FAO regional office for Europe and Central Asia and a National Gender and Social Inclusion expert.

On 12 September, within the framework of the same project, a validation workshop was held focusing on developing a set of indicators and recommendations for setting greenhouse gas emission targets for the agricultural sector and enhancing monitoring in line with the NDA and Climate Change Strategy. Key actors, including representatives from MEPA, other stakeholders and development partners discussed the first working draft of the set of indicators and recommendations for the agricultural sector and enhancing monitoring in line with the NDC and the 2030 Climate Change Strategy.

Jeremy Schlickenrieder, FAO Natural Resources Officer, highlighted the importance of the GCF readiness project to consider agriculture and agrifood systems in Georgia’s climate action and planning priorities: “Agriculture is not only one of the sectors most impacted by climate change, but it must also be part of the solution. We are working closely with stakeholders in Georgia to help them address the challenges posed by climate change in agriculture. Our focus is on building resilience and adapting to these impacts, while also identifying ways to reduce emissions and contribute to mitigation efforts.”

Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) were established under the UNFCCC Paris Agreement and summarize efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change, and thus, contribute to the realization of the Paris Agreement and its long-term goals. Many of these contributions are linked to the food and agriculture sectors, helping them to become increasingly adaptive to climate change impacts, strengthen their resilience and reduce vulnerability to climate change, with a view to contributing to sustainable development and ensuring an adequate adaptation response.