Context:
In November 2020, Serbia signed the declaration on the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans. By doing so, the country is committing itself to a climate-neutral and environmentally friendly future in 2050. The Green Agenda comprises 58 goals along five pillars:
- Climate neutrality
- Circular economy
- Air, water and soil protection
- Climate and environmentally friendly agriculture
- Nature and biodiversity conservation
Implementing the Green Agenda is a major challenge for Serbia. The government lacks the skills and resources to organise national climate policy in a way that enables the goals of the agenda to be achieved.
Objective:
The Serbian Government is progressing with its implementation of the Green Agenda.
Approach:
The project supports the Serbian Government in implementing the Green Agenda and advises the relevant ministries, including the Serbian Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of the Environment, on how to shape national climate policy appropriately. This is designed to lay the foundations for achieving the climate targets.
The project takes a flexible approach so it can respond to the partners’ prioritised climate policy needs. The specific advisory topics are therefore only determined during implementation together with the partners. Potential topics include introducing a digital system to manage the national energy and climate plan or Serbia’s adaptation to the requirements of the European Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. This evaluates CO2 emissions from the production of goods and requires companies to pay the relevant price if they want to import goods into the European Union.
In addition, the project promotes climate policy exchange and dialogue between Germany and Serbia in order to further intensify Cooperation for Climate Action.