Serbia presented a low-carbon development strategy for the period 2023-2030

The Government of Serbia, led by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, presented the comprehensive Low Carbon Development Strategy for the period 2023-2030, which contains long-term projections until 2050.

The initiative was formulated in response to the challenges of climate change, and is expected to reorient the national economy towards a more sustainable model with low carbon emissions and contribute to international efforts to mitigate climate change.

Increasing threats of climate change

The strategy arrives at a time when Serbia is facing increasing threats of climate change. Recent data reveal a temperature rise of 0.36°C per decade from 1961-2017. Projections indicate a possible temperature increase of between 2°C and 4.3°C by 2100. Along with warming, average precipitation has declined by 10 percent between 1961 and 2017, with a projected decrease of up to 4.5 percent by 2100. These changes represent significant risks for Serbia’s infrastructure, agricultural productivity, water availability and public health.

Improved climate commitments

Serbia, a signatory to the Paris Agreement and the Kyoto Protocol, originally committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 9.8 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. However, as part of the Strategy, Serbia revised its commitment, raising the reduction target to 33.3 percent by 2030. This commitment is also in line with Serbia’s bid for European Union membership, as the nation aims to meet the EU’s ambitious targets by 2030. , which include a minimum 40 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, a minimum 32 percent share of renewable energy sources and a minimum increase in energy efficiency by 32.5 percent.

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Alignment with EU and global standards

As a candidate for EU membership and a contracting party of the Energy Community, Serbia actively aligns itself with EU policies and actions, adopting integrated national energy and climate plans. These plans will define activities for the implementation of measures to achieve the goals outlined in the Low Carbon Development Strategy.

Sectoral contributions to greenhouse gas emissions

The strategy lists the contributions of different sectors to greenhouse gas emissions in Serbia.

The energy sector, including transportation, is a significant contributor, responsible for 80.6 percent of total emissions in 2015. Meanwhile, agriculture accounted for 8.5 percent of national emissions in 2015, and the forestry sector served as a carbon sink, absorbing 7.4 percent total emissions in Serbia. The waste sector accounted for 4.2 percent of total emissions.

The strategy acknowledges the lack of specific targets in several sectors to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the lack of adequate financial mechanisms and capacity to encourage low-carbon development. To address these shortcomings, the Government plans to implement the Low Carbon Development Strategy and the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan in the coming year.

Historical trends and vision of the future

The total emission of greenhouse gases in Serbia for 2015 was 61,233 kt CO2, which represents a decrease of 24.9 percent compared to 1990. The vision presented in the Strategy envisions Serbia as a society with low carbon emissions by 2050 with a competitive and resource-efficient economy, built in a socially just and economically profitable way.

The Strategy emphasizes that this transformation would align Serbia with the requirements of the Paris Agreement and EU accession processes, which would help Serbia to compete effectively in the global economy while ensuring the preservation of the environment for future generations.

You can view the regulation in its entirety here

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