On May 22, the Lithuanian-Austrian Consortium and Palestine’s Environment Quality Authority have launched in Ramallah, the EU Twinning Project aimed at Mainstreaming Environment and Climate Change in National Development Strategies.
Over the course of two years, the Twinning project “Environment and climate change mainstreaming in national development strategies and policies” will convene Lithuanian, Austrian and Palestinian experts tackling climate change. Together they will work towards the project’s main objective of integrating environment and climate change into national planning processes, along with the operationalization of the sectoral strategies. The expertise provided by the Twinning project will support the Environment Quality Authority in enhancing coordination and assistance to relevant stakeholders across sectors in Palestine.
Mr. Ibrahim Laafia, Head of Cooperation, European Union Representation to West Bank & Gaza, UNRWA said: “The EU reaffirms its steadfast and continued commitment to supporting the Palestinian people and strengthening the Palestinian public institutions. Two European Member States, Lithuania and Austria, will bring on board their know how and value added to respond to Palestinian environmental policy priorities. This Twinning project is a reflection of the European Green Deal ambition to develop effective solutions around climate action. This project will legitimise and enhance Palestine’s role in the international environmental agenda and place Palestine among other countries in the world, in the achievement of environmental commitments”.
Dr. Nisreen Al-Tamimi, Chairperson of the Environment Quality Authority said: “this project that finally sees the light after more than two years of work with the EU, is one of the important projects in the environmental sector, supporting EQA and other stakeholders in mainstreaming the environment and climate change in their development policies and strategies. The mainstreaming process was launched nationally since 7 years, but there is still a need to assess the process and make it more robust and doable. We do rely on this project and on the experience of the Lithuanian-Austrian consortium in improving this process and enriching it, and we consider it as an opportunity to move forward in environment protection and supporting the environmental sector.” Dr. Tamimi also highlighted the effects of the war on Gaza and west Bank from humanitarian and environmental perspective, she said “our plans were turned after the war into the relief and reconstruction, so we are approaching the EU and other international partners to support our efforts in this regard”.
“Climate change mitigation is a pressing contemporary issue. We are delighted to collaborate with Palestinian experts, drawing on the experience of European countries, to contribute to finding solutions to this problem,” said project leader Mr. Dainius Kazlauskas, representing Environmental Projects Management Agency under the Ministry of Environment of Lithuania.
“In recent years, Lithuanian and Palestinian relations have been expanding on many levels, from bilateral to multilateral development cooperation partnerships in the spirit of Team Europe approach. From the Lithuania’s experience, we can firmly state that Twinning instrument has greatly contributed to the success of our reforms and modernisation, moving towards a competitive economy and adoption of high environmental and social standards. We believe that his Twinning project will provide considerable value to Palestine’s Environment Quality Authority too “said Rasa Kairienė, Director of Development Cooperation Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania.
The project is expected to look at the current mainstreaming process, identify gaps, prepare and roll out a new methodological guideline that will be used by different sectors, mainstreaming environment and climate change priorities.
“The Twinning project exemplifies the spirit of international cooperation and the EU’s commitment to fostering sustainable development across the globe. By bringing together the expertise and experience of Lithuania, Austria and Palestine, we are equipping Palestine with the tools and knowledge necessary to tackle the pressing challenges of environmental degradation and climate change” said Christoph Sternat, Austrian Representative to the PA. “The project aligns very well with the key support areas of the long standing Austro- Palestinian cooperation and we hope that collectively we can ensure that environmental considerations are not only an afterthought, but a fundamental component of all policy-making processes.”
The Central Project Management Agency (CPVA) is responsible for the administrative–financial management.
