Outlook on Climate Change Adaptation in the South Caucasus Mountains

Financial barriers

The three countries of the South Caucasus, when compared to most European countries, have limited financial resources: Armenia’s GDP is US$ 10.8 billion, Azerbaijan’s US$ 75.2 billion and Georgia’s GDP is US$ 16.5 billion (World Bank 2015); the financial gap is also exacerbated by the high inflation that affects all three countries. However, this does not mean that countries cannot consider different and innovative ways of reducing climate risks through knowledge sharing and leveraging the know- how of developed countries, or reviewing existing expenditures on different infrastructural projects

in order to mainstream climate considerations into their implementation. In addition, improvement in the coordination of existing actions (implemented with donor support) by the government will help to increase the efficiency of the response to climate change challenges. Despite the fact that some of the countries have already started to allocate funds for adaptation measures, the share of resources spent on adaptation from national budgets is still low and insufficient.

Wildflowers in the Ismailli mountains, Azerbaijan

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