Who will be the bearer of changes in the power sector and take the leading role in implementing the energy transition in Serbia - the state, the private sector or the citizens? What benefits in terms of the quality of life of the population and the environment does the transition from fossil to renewable energy sources bring? How can the civil sector contribute to the strengthening of local communities to climate change, implementing the energy transition and ensuring that it is fair?
Green Talks with representatives of local associations that received support through the Green PowerUp program and the Green Incubator project was led by Hristina Vojvodić from the Renewables and Environmental Regulatory Institute RERI and Ognjan Pantić from the Belgrade Open School.
The participants were unanimous in their assessment that the state, through the creation of an encouraging regulatory framework, should initiate the energy transition and create a favorable environment that would contribute to the involvement of the economy and citizens in this process.
The step that is necessary is the one done centrally - regulation of the electricity network, its restoration and modernization. It is a network that has large losses and that in its current state cannot receive excessive new capacities of renewable energy sources.
Citizens are currently not able to afford to actively participate in the transition through the introduction of renewable energy in households, but they can focus on initially switching primary energy needs, such as water heating (which is a large share), to renewable energy (through solar collectors, for example). To begin with, citizens can deal with reducing consumption, companies can introduce renewable energy sources, and local self-government units can focus on locally renewable energy where it is available (such as biomass or geothermal resources).
Civil society organizations have a great role to play in preserving the interests of citizens in the energy transition process. Associations should somehow foster cooperation, a positive spirit and relations with the local community, because confrontational tactics will not yield any results. Civil society activities must be designed in such a way as to introduce LGUs into the energy transition process through partnership. LGUs often do not have enough knowledge of what they should do, what are the direct consequences (penal provisions), nor what consequences the local community may have if environmental regulations are not applied. The role of organizations should be in educating and informing local authorities.
Communication with citizens is crucial in order for them to be supportive of the energy transition. Associations must simultaneously be a watch-dog, to monitor the activities of LGUs, but also to be educators and support citizens for their direct participation in the process. The more active and informed civil society is, the more supportive citizens will be for the energy transition.
Civil society can contribute to the creation of a positive narrative about the energy transition, especially in the domain of costs - to communicate health (hidden) costs more clearly so that all actors understand that even though the transition costs money, doing nothing contributes to pollution even more.
The discussion was organized as part of the Green Talks - go out on a gree branch event, and apart from this topic, the event also discussed local activism, climate change, public policies, circular economy and the role and state of civil society in Serbia.
The Green Incubator project is implemented by the Belgrade Open School in partnership with Young Researchers of Serbia and Environmental Engineering Group with the support of the European Union.
Author of the photo: Belgrade Open School