Help Desk

What is the Clima East ‘Help Desk’?

A key objective of Clima East is to promote closer ties and exchange of information and views between the EU (and the European Commission in particular) and the Partner Countries, and to increase access for Partner Countries to information on the EU’s evolving approach to, and activity dealing with, climate change.

The virtual ‘Help Desk’ is one of the mechanisms which Clima East provides to put the professional knowledge of the Project Team and their connections with key European Union institutions and specialists at the service of Clima East stakeholders in the Partner Countries.

Specifically, it provides a permanent framework through which to request remote support from the Team in answering queries on points of detail relating to EU policy on climate change, independent of the schedule of face-to-face visits and meetings under the Project.

A ‘Help Desk’ query may, for example, be prompted by needing a better understanding of the interpretation of a particular aspect of an EU policy, strategy or regulation relevant to climate change, or to follow up on a discussion held during a Clima East event. Or it may be to request suggestions for where to find fuller information or support with a particular problem, where the Clima East team may be able to refer the enquirer on to relevant sources of information or contacts (e.g. other donor funded projects, research organisations, or EU and Member State organisations).

Who is it for?

The ‘Help Desk’ is intended primarily to support eligible stakeholders from Clima East Partner Countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, the Russian Federation and Ukraine). These include officials and employees of:

• national Ministries or Agencies engaged in climate change policy
• local government departments engaged in climate change policy

The ‘Help Desk’ will endeavour to respond to queries from other Partner Country stakeholders where possible, including:

• university staff and researchers
• non-governmental and private sector organisations

Using the ‘Help Desk’

Queries can be submitted in Russian or English using the form below. 

Key points to note are:

•  Only queries from eligible stakeholders relevant to EU climate policy will be accepted.
• The ‘Help Desk’ cannot provide subjective comment on or assessment of issues raised – queries should be substantive and objective in nature.
• The ‘Help Desk’ can only provide responses to questions of limited scope, normally not exceeding more than one hour to clarify, either from the Project Team’s own knowledge or through a short discussion with the relevant European Union services.
• The ‘Help Desk’ will not be able to guarantee an answer. However, all eligible queries will be acknowledged and, where possible, suggestions made on other potential sources of information
• The Team will aim to provide an acknowledgement or final response within 2 weeks of receipt of a query.
• Clima East reserves the right to publish all queries and answers provided.

Usage of the ‘Help Desk’ will be reviewed periodically and adjustments made if required to ensure it provides a useful and workable service to stakeholders.

General queries about the work of Clima East should be sent directly to members of the Policy or Pilot Project teams as relevant (please see contacts page).

Help Desk Enquiry