The European Union Emission Trading System – EU ETS is the key element of the EU strategy in the fight against climate changes, and also the first international system for CO2 emission trade in the world, in operation since 2005.
The Republic of Serbia has adopted as a strategic goal accession to the EU, which treats emission reductions within the so called Energy-Climate package, a complex legislative framework, with which the Republic of Serbia will have to harmonize its legislation. The implementation of this package will require a legislative, institutional change, human resource capacitating and large financial investments in sectors that are the biggest GHG emitters, like thermal energy sectors ( cement factories, refineries, iron and steel works, paper industry, glass factories, nitrogen factories … ) in the most cost-efficient way.
The emission trading system emerged in order to fulfill the commitments of EU countries that had ratified the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol. With the adoption, ratification and enforcement of the Framework Convention followed by the Kyoto Protocol, was created a global, internationally binding agreement that establishes and quantifies the commitments of greenhouse gas emission decline both for developed and developing countries.
The implementation of this package will require a legislative, institutional change, human resource capacitating and large financial investments in sectors that are the biggest GHG emitters, like thermal energy sectors ( cement factories, refineries, iron and steel works, paper industry, glass factories, nitrogen factories … ) in the most cost-efficient way.
Monitoring the climate situation, indicates to a change in climate caused mostly from GNG emission. GHG emissions need to be reduced, so that temperature growth by the end of this century doesn’t cross 2C, thus avoiding climate changes of catastrophic proportions with unforeseeable damage to the environment. To attain this, we need to lower GHG emissions on the global level by 2020 by 20-30%, and by 50% by 2050.
In early 2007, the European Council made a commitment to realize a goal known as 20-20-20, entailing a GHG emission lowering by 20% by 2020 against 1990, to increase the renewable energy share from 8.5% to 20% and raise energy efficiency to 20% by 2020.
The political platform of Serbia in terms of our status within the Convention and Protocol is based on the attitude that Serbia has a clearly defined plan and program on how to address this issue. According to carried out analyses, the RS will in the period up to 2020 conduct such an energy policy that will enable for our GHG emission to be limited against the emissions without the implementation of climate change measures, which entails a considerable increase in energy efficiency in production, transport, and consumption, increasing renewable energy share in the total balance of the country, the transition, wherever possible, to energy cleaner fuels (from coal and oil to gas), reducing energy consumption in traffic, transfer of energy efficient technologies and so on. The analysis establishes that this would limit the growth of our emissions to 18%, which would without the mentioned measures, grow in 2020 by 29% in relation to 1990.
The mentioned analysis points to the fact that only by applying all the said measures, harmonizing legislation, capacitating institutional and human resource potential, and large investments in the mentioned sectors Serbia would be prepared to accept the change in status i.e. the obligations that are the same that EU prescribes through its very demanding Energy-Climate package. By being a candidate state for EU membership we could create favorable conditions to realize these demanding obligations so that our full membership in the EU could coincide with the change in status within the new internationally legally binding agreement that would replace the Kyoto protocol.
Environmental Protection Board of the DSS.
