South East Europe

Much business was left unfinished at the last Ministerial Council⁽²⁾ of the Energy Community, the international treaty aiming to integrate the energy markets of the EU and its neighbours. This was due to political circumstances that led to limited participation of the member countries, the so-called contracting parties⁽³⁾. Yet, the Energy Community is making an effort to move the energy transition forward to our shared objective of climate

As the Coal Platform for the Western Balkans and Ukraine kicks off with an inaugural meeting on Dec. 10-11, 18 NGOs active in the Western Balkans and Ukraine call for effective rules to be put in place from the start in order to ensure an inclusive transition away from all fossil fuels.

In the EU it has been accepted as the norm that the coal era is coming to an end. Only six countries are yet to commit to a coal phaseout before 2030, while some southeast European countries – Greece and Slovakia – have committed to doing so even much earlier. The challenge is to plan alternatives as soon as possible and do so in a manner that is representative of the interests of workers and communities from the coal regions. Against this backdrop, the Western Balkans

“The Energy Community Contracting Parties have legal obligations regarding the prohibition of state aid that distorts or threatens to distort competition, which must be respected.⁽¹⁾ State aid authorities in the Contracting Parties systematically turn a blind eye to this obligation.”⁽²⁾

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, proposed the new target in her state of the (European) Union address at the European Parliament yesterday. She said “the Western Balkans are the European Union” and called the region “a part of Europe, and not a stopover on the Silk Road”.

Are EU member-states in Southeast Europe ready for timely and just transition beyond coal? For the Western Balkans, membership hopefuls, the question is how much longer can public subsidies and Chinese loans keep coal zombie alive at growing cost to health, livelihoods, and the environment?

More links between air pollution and Covid-19 cases, hospital admissions, and deaths are discovered by the study of 355 municipalities in the Netherlands conducted by the IZA Institute of Labour Economics⁽¹⁾. Other studies found that long term exposure to PM2.5, nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and sulphur dioxide (SO₂) can reduce lung function⁽²⁾ and cause respiratory illness⁽³⁾.

▶️ One Balkan country clocks its first coal-free days,
▶️ Another is rushing in the opposite direction, reviving shelved projects for a new coal plant.
▶️ 2-speed energy transition in the Western Balkans,
▶️ but delaying just transition beyond coal costs more. 

Read the latest news and stories from the region's journey beyond coal.

The EU accession process with the Western Balkans requires more climate action now!

The time is right for the efforts by the EU, pursued under the Energy Community Treaty, which works to integrate the energy markets of the Union and its neighbours, and by the Western Balkan countries to pull together, not apart. The EU accession process with the Western Balkans requires more climate action now. Our shared resilience in the face of one of humanity’s most pressing crises depends on it,

writes Viktor Berishaj, Climate and Energy Policy Coordinator for Southeast

We, the undersigned, welcome the European Commission’s (EC) work to advance the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans, a timely opportunity to realise the region’s potential for sustainable development, allowing a better quality of life and a healthier environment.

ContourGlobal, a power generator, has announced today that it has abandoned its plans to construct a 500-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Kosovo. It’s the third such project in the region to be canceled in the last six months.

Montenegro has introduced own cap and trade system for its major CO2 emitters ^₍₁₎, thereby signaling the beginning of the end to free emissions in countries of the Western Balkans - region that’s home to some of Europe’s most polluting coal-fired power plants ^₍₂₎. Nevertheless, to succeed, the Montenegrin scheme will need a tighter cap.

The North Macedonian government has approved a national energy strategy [1] that makes it the first country in the Western Balkans to consider a coal phase-out before 2030.

A just transition means delivering the socio-economic transformation required to address climate change, whilst reducing inequalities in the most affected regions and ensuring the costs and benefits of the transition are spread fairly.

Our European house is on fire. The climate action required to put it out is only meaningful through collective engagement across our continent. With this letter, Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe, urges the Heads of States and Governments of the European Union Council to take concrete measures to swiftly unlock the stalled progress of the EU accession negotiations, not only with North Macedonia and Albania but also with Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as with Kosovo. We will not achieve a

Brussels, we have a problem! 

Plans by Bosnia and Herzegovina to push forward with ill-conceived Tuzla 7 coal-fired thermal power plant project received a surprising boost this week with the announcement of financing for the project being made available by banking consortium led by Slovenia’s NLB Bank (1).

With the current level of the climate crisis, a global transition to a low-carbon economy is an urgent necessity, rather than an option. According to the IPCC 1.5°C special report (SR15), rapid action is needed to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5°C in line with the Paris Agreement. This will require key changes in energy supply and demand to be effected in a just manner. Learn how.

Yesterday the Secretariat of the Energy Community, the international treaty integrating the energy markets of the EU and its neighbours, published its Annual Implementation Report. The report shows that none of the Energy Community member states which have coal in their energy mix are in compliance with the emission ceilings established under their National Emission Reduction Plans