On July 28, the Ministry of Mining and Energy closed the public discussion on the National Energy and Climate Plan of the Republic of Serbia (NECP), which refers to the period up to 2030 with projections up to 2050. A little more than three months after the end of the public hearing, the official report on the conducted public discussion has not yet been published.

NECP is one of the most important documents in the field of energy and climate change and a key instrument for the implementation of the energy transition and the fight against the negative effects of climate change.

In accordance with the Agreement that the Republic of Serbia has with the Energy Community, the Ministry forwarded the draft document to the Secretariat of the Energy Community (EnC), which announced its recommendations on the NECP on November 11. Serbia was recommended to increase the goals related to the share of RES in the gross final consumption, to start reducing the use of coal for electricity production before 2030, and to introduce measures for a just energy transition into the document so that the entire process is carried out in accordance with the needs of citizens, but also the economy. It is also emphasized that NECP does not envision the achievement of climate neutrality by 2050, and that the most ambitious scenario foresees a reduction of GHG emissions by 75% compared to the level of emissions from 1990. In relation to the prominent role of coal production until 2030 and plans related to the modernization of the mining industry, detailed measures and policies for preparing society and the economy for the complete abolition of coal production and the transition to energy production from renewable energy sources generally do not exist.

EnC's recommendation is that it is necessary to take into account the opinions of the interested public gathered during the public disscusion, as well as that it is necessary to describe what the process of regional consultations looked like, what kind of feedback was received and that the correlation of the Serbian integrated plan with the plans of the surrounding countries should be described .

We remind you that BOS and RERI, together with local partners, after a detailed analysis of the document that was on public discussion, created and submitted comments to the Ministry in order to contribute to the alignment of NECP with the energy and climate goals defined at the level of the European Union and the Energy Community. In total, over 200 comments were sent, and you can read them on the Get Involved! portal.

The comments made by BOS together with partners as part of the „Civil Society for Energy Transition“ project largely coincide with the comments and recommendations presented by the Energy Community in this document.

The „Civil Society for Energy Transition“ project is financed by the British Embassy in Belgrade, and the Belgrade Open School implements the project in cooperation with the Renewables and Environmental Regulatory Institute (RERI) and seven other local partners, in the period from December 1, 2022. until March 31, 2024.

Author of the photo: Belgrade Open School