On Thursday 1st October, 2015 in Kragujevac a Conference was held under the name “Local communities – key actors in the fight climate change in Serbia” within the set of activities “Ecological challenges: “What about acclimatization?”

The Conference was opened by the Mayor of Kragujevac, Mr. Radomir Nikolic, who on this occasion said that the local government has to act in the fight against climate change, so as to minimize effects on the global level.

French Ambassador to Serbia Her Excellency Mrs. Christine Moro said that the city of Kragujevac was chosen for the Conference on Climate Change due to a long cooperation with the French city of Suresnes, but also because it has taken measures to combat climate change with Suresnes in the field of waste processing. She emphasized the importance of the fight against climate change and in particular the importance of action at the local level, not only at the national level. Furthermore, she added that climate change arisen from human influences and that they have a serious impact on the global level. As she stated, Subotica is the only local government in Serbia which has measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while in France this is at a much higher level. Thus, in France in some municipalities plans are implemented to contribute to the increase of renewable energy, reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, energy storage, smart grids, smart polluters, energy saving.

Ms. Moro reminded that France chaired this year’s Conference on Climate Change COP21 in the framework of which is expected to achieve a global agreement on climate change. As stated, each of the 195 participating countries and the European Union had to submit the national plan to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, which was so far done by around 120 countries. She pointed out that the current engagement on climate issues was insufficient to reduce global temperature by 2 degrees Celsius by 2100, but that this can be achieved in the future thanks to new technologies that enable the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions which are constantly appearing. Ms. Moro recalled that the meetings were held a few months ago about the upcoming Climate Change Conference in Paris and announced that in the future period she expected more similar meetings and conferences on this issue.

The representative of the French municipality Metz, Mr. Sebastian Douche spoke about the legal framework for the energy transition in France and the European Union and emphasized that for this field a model of sustainable development was very important. As he said, sustainable development involved reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing energy consumption, reducing dependence on fossil fuels, adapting territories so that climate change would be less perceptible. Speaking about the global context, Mr. Douche reminded us that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was adopted in 1992 and entered into force in 1994, while the Kyoto Protocol was signed in 1997 and ratified in 2005. As he pointed out, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change encouraged signatory countries to stabilize the emissions of greenhouse gases, while the Kyoto Protocol committed them to do so. The first commitment period of the Protocol related to the period from 2008 to 2012 when the countries that ratified it had an obligation to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases by 8 percent compared to 1990, while the second commitment period from 2013 to 2020 predicts the emissions of greenhouse gases to be reduced by at least 18 percent by 2020. The European Union adopted in 2008 a package on climate and energy which predicts that by 2020 the emissions of greenhouse gases is reduced by 20 percent compared to 1990, energy consumption is reduced by 20 percent compared to 1990 and the share of the renewable energy is increased by 20 percent compared to 1990. In 2005 France adopted a law which defines the objectives for changing energy policy, which includes the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 75 percent compared to 1990 but without a time frame. In addition to this other laws were adopted that allow the operation of local communities on local level, as well as the Law on energy transition that stipulates: the reduction of the emissions of greenhouse gases by 40 percent by 2030 and 75 percent by 2050, the increase of the share of renewable energy by 32 percent by 2030, the reduction of use of fossil fuels by 30 percent and nuclear power by 50 percent by 2025. He added that the municipality of Metz in 2009 started implementing the plan Climate, energy at the local level which involved making a balance of the emissions of greenhouse gases and carbon emitted vapors, developing strategies for the reduction of such emissions by 2020 and the development and implementation of an action plan.

The representative of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection, Ms. Danijela Bozanic said that they created a two-year updated report for better monitoring of the emissions of greenhouse gases and that all interested parties can submit their comments on the report by 20th October, 2015. She stated that the Republic of Serbia has developed a Strategy to fight against climate change with an action plan, very soon a publication will be issued The Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture and the National Council on Climate Change was established.

The representative of the Secretariat for Environmental Protection of Belgrade, Mr. Miodrag Grujic presented an action plan for adaptation to climate change in the city of Belgrade. As he said, Belgrade made a decision at the end of 2013 to realize this project, and for the very development of the plan it took about a year.

The representative of the French city of Suresnes, Mr. Rafael Gudeti presented examples of good practice in energy efficiency, environmental protection and renewable energy. As he pointed out, the city replaced public lighting with LED lighting which contributed to energy savings of about 60 percent, private and public buildings were renovated in order to contribute to the increase of energy efficiency, the filter on the main pool was replaced which annually saves about 35 thousand cubic meter of water, replacement of cars and buses with ecological vehicles is in process, a system of buried containers was implemented which contributed to the increase of green areas.

The representative of the city of Kragujevac, Mr. Vladimir Maksimovic said that Kragujevac has big problems with the waste management because the daily production of over 160 tons of municipal waste goes to dysfunctional dump in Jovanovac. He specified that it is planned to introduce LED public lighting, to do a study on dynamic transport, that is to replace public vehicles with ecological vehicles. He added that they established the Department for Energy Efficiency which is working on scanning the actual state of things, preparation of projects and finding sources for funding this field.
The conference was attended by the representatives of: the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection, the French Embassy, the EU Delegation in Serbia, UNDP, SKGO, local governments, public and private companies, NGOs, and the organizers were the French Embassy and the city of Kragujevac.

Sandra Jovicevic