EU – Serbia High Level Conference on Climate Change
Date: 11.06.2015
Place: Belgrade, Serbia
Organizer: ECRAN Secretariat with EC TAIEX Unit
Climate change is increasingly gaining prominence in the run up to the Paris Climate Summit of
December 2015. The 2015 Agreement is to open a new chapter in the history of international
climate action as it will bring all 196 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) members to a common platform to act avoiding dangerous climate change.
Ongoing international climate negotiations are shaping the form of this Agreement which is to set
the framework for our action in the coming decades. This resulting agreement will not be something
isolated, but will put all sectors of our economies on a long term decarbonisation pathway to limit
the global temperature increase to below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, consistent with the
findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This major goal requires major action.
The EU 2030 Framework on Climate and Energy Policies added a needed milestone to the EU 2050
decarbonisation roadmap. This milestone sends out the needed signal of the direction of policy
development and also provides the 'intended nationally determined contribution (INDC)' from the
side of the EU to the 2015 Agreement which is matching to the challenge ahead of us. Ensuring
robust climate action will also open up a horizon of opportunities: fighting climate change e.g. by
investing in low-carbon energy is not only an investment in our children's future; it will also create
new jobs and economic growth.
Serbia is negotiating its accession to the EU. The meetings of screening the country's climate action
in relation to the one of the EU have been recently completed. The efforts required from Serbia to
converge with the EU will provide the Serbian administration and the society with better tools for
harnessing the opportunities and addressing the challenges of sustainable economic development,
job creation and climate change. The EU supports Serbia in many ways in this process, including
through the use of the Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA).
Serbia plans to announce the submission of its INDC towards the 2015 Climate Agreement at this
High Level Conference of 11 June, taking the lead in the Western Balkans region in terms of timing.
This will not only facilitate Serbia's convergence with EU acquis but will also support the further
development of sound climate and energy policies providing for enhanced security of energy supply,
green jobs and regulatory certainty for investments, improved air quality and health benefits for all
citizens and ultimately transition to a low-carbon economy.
