The National Climate Change Adaptation Programme until 2030 and its Action Plan were approved by the Government of the Republic of Moldova on 30 August 2023. The Programme was developed with the support of the UNDP Moldova project “Advancing Moldova’s national climate change adaptation planning”, funded by the Green Climate Fund.

According to the Minister of Environment, Iordanca-Rodica Iordanov, by the adoption of the programme, the Republic of Moldova has aimed to align with the global efforts to limit the negative impact of climate change: "The National Climate Change Adaptation Programme until 2030 seeks to ensure the integration of adaptation measures into sectoral policies, in synergy with climate change adaptation policy documents, as well as in the field of disaster risk management. The program has been developed to enhance the climate resilience of the country. For this purpose, targeted policy actions are necessary. Therefore, the programme focuses on several sectors vulnerable to climate change." 

The Programme sets objectives aimed at increasing the climate resilience of six priority sectors: agriculture, health, transportation, energy, water, and the forestry sector, and is accompanied by an action plan for preventing and overcoming risks and vulnerabilities caused by climate change. 

The documents provide specific interventions in each of the six sectors.

• In the forestry sector, there will be an emphasis on increasing forested areas, which currently stand at only 11% of the territory of the Republic of Moldova – coverage which is too low to mitigate the effects of climate change. The EU average of forestation, for example, is 30-45%.
• In the agricultural sector, the promotion of drought-adapted species, as well as use of the anti-hail nets and measures that would protect crops during early frosts, will be encouraged.
• In the transport sector, the standards for the construction and maintenance of road infrastructure are to be reviewed and improved, taking into account the damages caused by climate change. 
• In the health sector, existing clinical protocols will be adjusted or new protocols will be developed for the prevention and treatment of diseases caused or exacerbated by climate change. 
• In the energy sector, the electricity supply infrastructure is set to be improved to minimize losses caused by extreme weather events. 
• One of the measures for the water sector involves encouraging citizens and the private sector to adopt water reuse measures for household and industrial needs.

The Republic of Moldova is one of Europe’s most climate change-vulnerable countries, particularly prone to floods and droughts. The floods of 2008 alone caused damages worth over US$120 million, and the droughts that occurred between 2007 and 2012 caused economic losses of over one billion dollars, affecting 80% of the country's territory.

Download the press-release in Russian.