“Cities and Climate” Loan within the framework of Serbia's climate roadmap support program

Under the Paris Agreement, Serbia has committed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 9,8% by 2030 from 1990 levels, and intend to increase the level of ambition in its second Nationally Determined Contribution. 

The law on climate change (hereinafter “climate law”) aims to guarantee a legal basis for the adoption of a low-carbon development strategy and a climate change adaptation program. It is establishing a reference framework for the adoption of measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the adaptation of the various sectors of the Serbian economy to the fight against climate change. 

 

The program initiates a series of medium-term public policy loans (2 to 3 years), in partnership with others donors, on a series of topics participating in the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans, adopted at the Sofia Summit on November 10, 2020 and translated into an operational roadmap in the EU-Balkans Summit in Brdo in October 6, 2021. In line with the commitments made by Serbia, this program aims to accompany the official roadmap of the Government of Serbia, strategically oriented towards accelerating the process of accession to the European Union (EU) and the convergence toward EU environmental and climate acquis.

The program, articulated around the adoption and entry into force of the climate law, is structured in the form of a public policy matrix broken down into 4 main result indicators identified as crucial for the implementation of the law and its implementation at the level of each sector - especially at the local/urban level in support of the initiatives of local Serbian authorities:

• The National Council on Climate Change (NCCC) is re-established and operational
• The decrees for the application of the climate law are drafted and approved.  
• Public policy documents are approved and/or harmonized with the climate law, notably the low-carbon development strategy and its action plan as well as the climate change adaptation program.
• A feasibility study for the identification of financial mechanisms encouraging the realization of investments to combat climate change at the local community level is carried out.
  
   

The program will have a structuring contribution to Serbia's low-carbon trajectory through its action of unlocking the adoption and implementation of the climate law, a prerequisite for all the resulting change levers to be effective: engagement of public actors, monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions, preparation of reports, engagement of climate finance.