OSCE joins international partners in promoting sustainable use of natural resources in Armenia

YEREVAN, 11 May 2016 – Methodologies for measuring efforts to support a green national economy in Armenia were presented today at a workshop jointly organized in Yerevan by the OSCE Office and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The meeting, which gathered representatives of the Ministries of Economy and Nature Protection, of the National Statistical Service of Armenia as well as civil society, academia, local and international experts, discussed how to identify national green growth indicators and develop a report assessing the country’s progress towards green growth.

“Green growth indicators are gradually becoming an important tool for measuring the sustainable economic performance of a country,” said Ambassador Argo Avakov, Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan. “Armenia is still dependent on natural resources and raw materials, and the development of a methodology for identifying country-specific green growth indicators will significantly contribute to developing effective economic policies.”

Krzysztof Michalak, Senior Programme Manager at OECD’s Environment Directorate encouraged Armenia to join more than 20 countries that have already used the Organization’s green measurement framework. “The use of green growth indicators enables factoring the costs of natural capital depletion into a country’s economic decision-making and raising awareness about the contribution of natural resources and environmental services to the well-being of Armenian society.”

International experts, including from Slovakia and Ukraine, shared their experience of using green growth indicators and monitoring progress. This was followed by a discussion on establishing a working group on developing green growth indicators in Armenia.

The event was organized within the OSCE Office’s project on supporting the host country’s transition to a sustainable market economy and securing economic stability, and as part of the OECD-led “Greening Economies in the Eastern Neighbourhood” projects funded by the European Union.