While the energy transition is already a reality in the European Union, it is still in its beginning in the Western Balkans. The countries of this region made commitment in 2019 to start the implementation process of the energy transition by signing the Joint Declaration of the Western Balkan countries, that took place in Podgorica. This process is inevitable if we want to achieve climate goals and reduce the impact of climate change on the planet.
The World Bank, in cooperation with the European Commission, the Energy Community Secretariat, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the University College of Natolin in Poland and the Government of Poland, has launched a Platform Initiative in Support of Coal Regions in transition in Western Balkans and Ukraine, with an aim to support the energy transition process in the Western Balkans and Ukraine. A two-day Conference was held on 10th and 11th of December this year, with a goal to present this platform to broader public and stakeholders.
Inauguration of the Platform Initiative in Support of Coal Regions in transition in Western Balkans and Ukraine
During the conference, the Platform itself was presented, as well as the way in which the institutions, which established the Platform, will participate and support the process of energy transition in the region of the Western Balkans and Ukraine.
According to Ana Sobcak, Policy Coordinator for EU Coal Regions in transition, Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER), European Commission, the Secretariat of the Initiative will provide logistical support to all stakeholders in this process. Ms. Sobcak emphasized that it is extremely important to include all actors that can contribute to the process of energy transition, but especially those who will be most affected by this process, local communities and local governments. Ms. Sobcak further emphasized that 6 workshops will be held within the platform in the countries of this region and invited interested actors to join the organization of these workshops.
During this Conference, representatives of the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development presented their plans to make greater investments in energy transition projects in the Western Balkans and Ukraine, starting from 2021. It is planned to collect project proposals, as well as support initiation of businesses that would contribute to this process through their work and implementation.
In addition to this support, support has been announced in the form of relevant scientific papers, texts, videos and other types of tools, which will be provided by the University "College of Europe" from Natolin in Poland, through a platform called "Learning Academy". This Platform will provide resources on specific activities that need to be carried out in the energy transition process, but also on broader information of the process itself, in order to provide the regions entering this process with the necessary knowledge to carry out the implementation process.
On the second day of the conference, the focus was on the positive examples of energy transition from the United States and Germany. Representatives of the authorities and local organizations presented what the process looked like in the regions they come from. With the formation of this Platform, further development of cooperation between representatives of different coal regions is planned, in order to exchange experiences and implement the energy transition process in the regions where this process has yet to begin.
The role of civil society in this process
Representatives of civil society organizations from the Western Balkans and Ukraine pointed out that the involvement of local communities from the coal region is key to the successful implementation of the energy transition process. They emphasized that it is not necessary to wait for the adoption of laws and regulations concerning the energy transition, but to start working with communities now. Iona Ciuta from the Bankwatch organization emphasized that the big problem is that the inhabitants of the countries of these regions have lost confidence in the government and that this fact will further complicate the implementation of this process. Ciuta also emphasized that Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are the only countries in Europe that plan to build new coal-fired power plants, a practice that has been abandoned by all other countries in the region. In addition, the representatives of these countries did not attend the panel, moreover, the Minister of Mining and Energy - Zorana Mihajlović, who was announced as a panelist within this conference, did not attend. No representative appeared instead of Minister Mihajlović, nor did they present any plans for further development of the energy sector in Serbia.
During the conference, 18 organizations from the region, including the Belgrade Open School, demanded that effective rules be established from the outset of the Platform to ensure comprehensive abandonment of all fossil fuels.
These 18 organizations called on the Platform to adopt four principles in order for its work to yield results, namely:
1. The Platform must have clearly defined, consistent and measurable goals, set up within a clear time frame.
2. The Platform must ensure that all relevant groups – local communities, NGOs, trade unions, educational institutions, local businesses, etc. – are involved, from participation in the Platform’s meetings, to the selection of pilot regions, to project selection and implementation. This principle must apply on all levels downstream of the Platform, so planning processes in the countries must take a bottom-up approach starting from the local level and engage communities in coal regions.
3. Any funding channeled by this initiative must be conditioned on local and participatory plans, exclude any kind of support for fossil fuels and incentivise reasonably fast coal phaseout dates.
4. The initiative should incentivise the adoption of territorial just transition plans, which should be consistent at least with National Energy and Climate Plans. If needed, to ensure consistency with achieving climate neutrality in the region by 2050, the just transition plans should go beyond the NECPs.
One of the basic conclusions of the Conference is that the countries of the Western Balkans and Ukraine must learn from the good examples of other countries and regions. It is extremely important that the population in regions that are economically dependent on coal mining be actively involved in the process and that they be given the necessary opportunity for retraining. Through this process, special attention should be paid to the miners themselves, their families and the population directly related to coal mines and coal processing sectors, so that after the process of energy transition they can lead decent lives without fear for their own existence.
Photo source: Belgrad Open School