To take a stand on carbon pricing, as part of the decarbonization of the energy sector, Serbia and other Western Balkan countries need financial support, mainly from the European Union (EU), according to Serbian Minister of Mines and Energy, Dubravka Đedović. Speaking at an informal ministerial meeting of the Energy Community in Albania, she stressed that the process of establishing an emissions trading system must be economically sustainable and socially just.
Serbian Minister of Mines and Energy Dubravka Đedović said during an informal ministerial meeting the Energy Communityheld in Albania, that the potential introduction of a regional carbon emissions trading system, modeled on the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), requires comparative analyzes additional funds and appropriate financial support.
“Before launching further activities related to CO2 taxation, it is necessary to analyze all possible options in order to select the mechanisms that will allow the harmonization of the region with the EU’s energy and climate policies. a way that would be economically sustainable and socially just. “, she said during the meeting in the town of Tepelena. Serbia’s position is that before discussing specific obligations and deadlines, it is necessary to carry out a comprehensive, detailed and comparative analysis regarding the implementation of a regional emissions trading system or another mechanism, mainly with regard to electricity production, according to Đedović.
The CBAM will have considerable consequences on the economy and social relations
The consequences of possible decisions concerning the implementation of Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) This will be serious and far-reaching for the economy and social relations, and there is a need for adequate analyzes at the national level that will inform the government’s policy positions, she added.
Taking into account GDP per capita and the share of coal in electricity production in Serbia and the region, taking a position on carbon pricing, within the framework of the energy sector decarburizationis not possible without appropriate financial support, mainly from the EU, said Đedović.
Western Balkans need special fund for just transition
“The Contracting Parties of the Energy Community, including Serbia, are only at the beginning of a just energy transition, but we must already foresee future costs, and therefore appropriate sources of financing for the decarbonization, as is the case in the EU, where the Just Transition Mechanism provides 100 billion euros of support to member states,” she explained.
One possible solution, she says, is to create a Western Balkans Just Transition Fund – a regional fund that would mobilize additional funds with EU support. The funding would be aimed at economic diversification in the hardest hit regions, retraining of workers, support for small and medium-sized businesses and the opening of new businesses, research and innovation, restoration ecology of coal regions, clean energy production and a transition to low-carbon technologies, according to Đedović.
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