Moldova

About

The Republic of Moldova has been a partner of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) since 2016 and has leveraged the partnership to raise the ambitions of its international climate targets and green its on-road transportation.

In 2018, Moldova adopted the Programme on the Promotion of Green Economy for 2018-20 which focused on reducing air pollution by targeting solutions in specific sectors, such as sustainable transport, green construction, and energy efficiency. The National Development Strategy “Moldova 2030” was also adopted in 2018 and provides a strategic vision related to four pillars: Sustainable and inclusive economy; strong human and social capital; fair and efficient institutions; and a healthy environment.

Through the support of the CCAC’s Global Sulfur Strategy, Moldova has become a global leader in upgrading both its fuels and its vehicles. This strategy paves the way for Moldova to help achieve considerable reductions in fine particle emissions and black carbon from roads globally set out in the Strategy.

In 2019, Moldova adopted a fuel quality law that will soon eliminate toxic exhaust fumes from the country, a ground-breaking achievement given that Moldova did not previously have an air quality law. This law puts Moldova’s fuel specifications on part with the European Union (EU) fuel quality directive 98/70/EC.

“Previous to this measure, we had no regulation on fuel quality, and had therefore been importing fuel of a range of different qualities from non-EU countries. Some of this was very low grade. When offered, higher quality fuels had to compete with lower quality fuel on the basis of price,” explains Stela Drucioc, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition’s focal point at the Moldovan government’s Ministry of Environment. “The Coalition and UNEP played a really big role as catalyst in the speedy achievement of results.”

In 2018, Moldova completed the Fuel Economy Database on newly registered vehicles with the help of the Coalition’s Heavy-Duty Vehicles Initiative. This gave the country a baseline for auto fuel consumption and emissions from its incoming fleet. “Developing a more complete picture of the fuel quality and vehicle emissions situation in Moldova is key for planning future policy and projecting both CO2 and non-CO2 emissions reductions. Moldova’s steps in adopting cleaner, more efficient vehicles will allow consumers to choose and access the best technology available on the market – including electric vehicles”, explains Elisa Dumitrescu, Programme Advisor at UNEP, which supported the project.

Along with eight other countries, Moldova joined the Breathe Life campaign in 2019 after approving fuel quality standards for petrol and diesel to match those of the European Union and adopting vehicle standards. Moldova also performs regular air pollutant inventory and reports to the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP). 

Other activities

National Planning

• Moldova recognized the importance of reducing methane, HFCs, and other SLCPs in the 2020 submission of its updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement. Revised targets included a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 70 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, up from 64-67 percent committed under their first NDC.
• In 2019, Moldova held a three-day LEAP training workshop to train people from the Institutes of Chemistry, Energy and Ecology in Chisinau to use the LEAP-IBC tool to improve the country’s reporting under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution.
• Since 2017, Moldova has been taking part in the CCAC’s SNAP programme for Institutional Strengthening and Black Carbon Inventory development. This project means that experts who developed the country's greenhouse gas inventory will get help developing an integrated greenhouse gas, SLCP, and air pollution emissions inventory. This process will use the Stockholm Environment Institute’s LEAP IBC tool, which helps countries compare greenhouse gas and air pollution emissions across different scenarios to see which polices can best reduce emissions. This collaboration with the Moldavian institutes of Chemistry, Energy, and Ecology for technical training aims to improve reporting under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution.
• In 2017, Moldova participated in the CCAC SNAP Institutional Strengthening Workshop, which highlighted the country’s need for specific legislation on biomass burning. It also helped identify the need for better educational programmes for farmers on biomass burning, given current knowledge gaps and the lack of no-tillage technologies for moisture management and erosion.
• The Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and  Environment (MARDE), and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have made several preliminary discussions in order to identify priority areas in the urban environment sector in the Republic of Moldova. The minutes of the meeting were signed (September 21, 2020) with the scope and implementing arrangements of a further survey that will review the currently available data and conduct a supplementary study to facilitate the formation of new project(s). The purpose of the Data Collection Survey (online) is to elaborate the roadmap and priority of JICA’s future assistance, by reviewing and analysing current situation and challenges in the urban environment sector such as ambient air quality, water supply, sanitation, and waste management in two major cities in the Republic of Moldova, namely Chisinau and Balti.
• The second Informative Inventory Report (IIR) of the Republic of Moldova was developed with the support of the UN Environment Programme and the Coalition’s SNAP initiative. It was completed for the period 1990-2017, by the Institute of Chemistry of the Republic of Moldova under the leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment (MARDE) and aligns with requirements of the CLRTAP, as the country’s commitment. The report relates the current state of emissions, calculated according to the EMEP/EEA air pollutant emission inventory guidebooks 2016 and 2019, to collect new data and integrate them with the existing database. The report also contains detailed information on annual emission estimates of air quality pollutants by sources in the Republic of Moldova in the NFR format for all 25 pollutants.

Heavy Duty Vehicles

• In 2019, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and E5P funded 10 new trolleybuses in Balti that run on electricity with battery technology so they can run in remote areas without overhead wires and will reduce air pollution and carbon emissions.
• In 2018, member of Parliament Mr. Vladimir Cernat announced the outcomes of an in-depth study of the country’s vehicle imports from 2005 to 2017 to support proposed changes to national legislation in response to EU Directive 98/70/EC relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels. The study collected and analysed data on over 200,000 imported cars.
• In 2018, Moldova held a two-day national working meeting for industry experts and government representatives to discuss the results of the first-ever automotive fuel economy study in Moldova. It also helped establish pending revisions to Moldova's fuel quality and vehicle emissions standards as part of its EU Association Agreement, which will impact all aspects of the country's on-road transport including e-mobility.

Household Energy

• In 2019, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and E5P funded the rehabilitation of the district heating systems in the city of Balti, including the installation of 169 individual heating substations and the conversion of a coal-fired heat-only boiler to biomass fuel.
• From 2012-2017, EBRD ran the Moldovan Residential Energy Efficiency Financing Facility (MoREEFF) to provide loans to individuals and private companies to support energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy projects in the Moldovan residential sector.

Waste
  

• In 2018, The Chisinau Solid Waste Project was announced as part of the Green City Lab project to promote a green transition of the capital city. This includes closing the existing dump site, re-opening and upgrading a currently non-operational facility so that it is compliant with the European Union, rehabilitating existing waste collection and transport, upgrading the transfer station, and introducing a waste sorting line. SNAP Moldova team experts are involved in pilot projects for monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of the results in the areas of: integrated and participatory urban land use and mobility planning; residential building energy efficiency and renewable energy use; low carbon mobility; and resource efficient waste management. 
• The 2013-2027 National Waste Management Strategy of the Republic of Moldova has aimed to develop infrastructure and services to properly protect the environment and human health while developing the legal and institutional framework required to support the gradual correspondence of domestic waste management practices to the European Union.