Fighting against climate change in Albania

Fighting against climate change in Albania

Espelia, in consortium with Groupe Huit, has elaborated a prefeasibility study for AFD regarding the preparation of a public policy loan aimed at improving Albania’s resilience towards climate change and at mitigating its effects. The program, co-financed by the World Bank, is likely to support various types of public policy actions including the establishment of a monitoring, reporting and verification system of greenhouse gas emissions at national level, the improvement of risk management measures related to natural and climate disasters, the encouragement of "green" public investments and purchases, the reduction of waste quantities and improvement of recycling, the implementation of a "green budget tagging" system at national level, the development of local plans for adaptation to climate change, and the elaboration of management plans for protected areas.

View of the Butrint National Park’s Heritage Site / View of the Butrint Lagoon (Butrint National Park, Southern Albania)

A field mission led by Espelia allowed to clarify the objectives and implementation of this program, to identify measures with strong climate co-benefits and to assess the needs of the various public stakeholders in terms of technical assistance. Exchanges were organized by Espelia in Tirana, notably within the Albanian National Environment Agency to discuss the implementation of the law banning single-use plastic bags in Albania, in the presence of representatives from the Ministry of Tourism and Environment as well as other Albanian public stakeholders. Espelia’s consultants also visited the Butrint National Park (Southern Albania) to discuss with local stakeholders in charge of the conservation of this protected area and evaluate their current practices as well as their needs in terms of capacity building within the framework of the program.