Workshop in Bratislava on Socio-economic assessment of CC impacts (8-10/11/10)

UNDP Regional Center in Bratislava organized a workshop on "Socio-economic assessment of climate change impacts" on November 8-10, 2010.  The participants of the workshop included around 30-35 experts from research and scientific institutions and think-tanks from the Europe and CIS region. UNDP Armenia mission members were Ms. D. Harutyunyan, Energy Efficiency and Climate Change Program Coordinator UNDP Armenia, Mr. L. Barkhudaryan, Senior Economist, "Avag Solutions" consulting company, Mr. V. Tonoyan,  National Expert/Task Leader on Climate Change Impact, UNDP/GEF Project.

The main objective of the workshop was to take a stock of approaches and processes, see what the impacts of studies produced in different countries were, and discuss which of the methods could be considered the best practices. The workshop also aimed to discuss which limitations the studies have and why and what barriers for the proper analysis research teams faced. Finally, the workshop provided forum to discuss, which of these barriers are at the national/sub-national level and could/should be addressed to enable development of such assessments relying mainly on national capacities.

At the end of the workshop a discussion was held on how to support countries in carrying out such assessments and in ensuring that data necessary for such assessments exists and is available. As a next step it was agreed that UNDP Bratislava will analyze the thoughts and observations of the participants and will come up with a strategy of actions in 1-2 month period.