The European Union and UNDP have supported the Government of the Republic of Moldova to develop its first ever Low Emissions Development Programme (LEDP). The Programme, which enters into force on 1 January 2024, systematizes policies and sectoral action plans that aim to achieve emission reduction objectives of greenhouse gases exposed in the updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) reported in March 2020 to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC.

The NDC was also developed with the support of the European Union through the EU4Climate project, implemented by UNDP. The Republic of Moldova was the fourth country in the world to develop the updated NDC, committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70% compared to the reference year 1990.

According to the Programme, by 2030, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are to be reduced compared to 1990:

• in the energy sector, with 81%;
• in the transport sector, with 52%;
• in the buildings sector, with 74%;
• in the industrial sector, with 27%;
• in the agricultural sector, with 44%;
• in the waste sector, with 14%.

During 1990-2020, total GHG emissions in the Republic of Moldova decreased by approximately 69.8%, up to 13,662 Mt CO2 equivalent, as a result of the economic crisis. After they dropped at the maximum peak in 2000, in the next 20 years the emissions increased by 24.6% and policy interventions are needed in every sector of the economy to reduce them.

Thus, the programme proposes the construction of 600 MW of wind and photovoltaic sources; generation of electricity and heating on biogas - 50 MW; reduction of energy losses in the transport and distribution system, etc.

In the transport sector, it is planned to electrify it and reduce the consumption of fossil fuels by 1%; in the building sector, the rehabilitation of over 5 million square meters of housing, the rehabilitation of heating systems, the installation of biomass thermal power needed heating by heat pumps.

To keep the planet in good living conditions, the countries have committed to keep global warming below 2°C, and for this, by the year 2050, the world is going to become climate neutral, that is, to remove as much CO₂ from the atmosphere as it emits.

In the last 130 years, the average annual temperature in the Republic of Moldova has increased by over 1.2°C. As a result, droughts, massive floods, heat waves, torrential rains and other extreme weather events have become more frequent. Of the 38 episodes of seasonal drought, officially observed since 1945, 12 episodes belong to the period after 2000, and 9 of them had such a degree of territorial coverage that they were categorized as catastrophic.

Joint global efforts are required to mitigate climate change, and the Republic of Moldova, even if it is responsible for less than 1% of global GHG emissions, is an active participant in efforts to reduce global warming.

With a total budget of 8.8 million euros, the EU4Climate project is implementing during 2019-2023 and has the following components: (i) updating the National Contributions Determined to the Paris Agreement; (ii) the development of national low-emission development strategies towards the year 2050; (iii) introducing and strengthening the framework for monitoring, reporting, and verifying greenhouse gas emissions; (iv) alignment with the community acquis in the climate field; (v) integrating the climate dimension into sectoral policy documents, raising awareness and developing sectoral guidelines for the implementation of the Paris Agreement; (vi) attracting climate change investments; (vii) better climate change adaptation planning.