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Red card for the Green agenda in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Minel Abaz

Environment

Tales from the Region

18.10.24

Прегледи
The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has around 2,000 illegal dumpsites of municipal waste that occupy about 1 million m2 of the area of ​​this entity. The share of the pharmaceutical waste in this regard is 20%, chemical waste is 23% and infectious waste 55%. Bosnia and Herzegovina does not have a legislative framework on circular economy in place.

Local elections were held twice (in 2020 and 2024) and general elections once (in 2022) since the moment when Bosnia and Herzegovina - together with Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia – signed the Sofia Declaration in November 2020, which includes the main guidelines for implementation of the European Green Agenda, which is a strategy from 2019 aiming to be make Europe the first climate neutral continent by 2050.

There are five key areas, with specifically established timeframes that are commitments for the signatories of the Sofia Declaration on Green Agenda for the Western Balkan countries. These are the areas of decarbonization and climate resilience, circular economy, remedying of air, water and soil pollution, sustainable food systems and rural areas, including biodiversity: protection and restoration of ecosystems.

Nine billion euros are planned for the activities included in the Action Plan for the implementation of the Green Agenda, covering the period of 2021-2030, foreseen by the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA III) in order to help in the alignment of the economic growth of the Western Balkan countries with the EU growth.

The strategic priorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in terms of the EU acquis and in relation to various areas of the Green Agenda, include activities aimed at preservation of natural resources and transformation of Bosnia and Herzegovina into a greener and more sustainable economy.

Four years later, it is time to check what Bosnia and Herzegovina did in fulfilling the activities from the Green Agenda, or the signed Sofia documents remained only a "dead letter".

From candidate status to the opening of accession negotiations - and back

In mid-December 2022, the General Affairs Council (GAC) supported the proposal of the European Commission to grant Bosnia and Herzegovina the status of a candidate country for membership in the European Union, with a list of 14 conditions that BiH must fulfill in the area of ​​the rule of law and fight against corruption. Afterwards, the European Council gave approval in March 2024 for opening of accession negotiations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European Union.

A little earlier, in January 2024, a constitutive session of the Working Team in Bosnian and Herzegovina was held in charge of preparation of the Reform Plan intended for the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans. The Reform Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina is a document that includes four priorities: Green and digital transition; Development of the private sector and business environment; Development and retention of human capital; and Rule of law.

The working team was supposed to agree on the final Reform Agenda which would list all reforms or investment projects as well as the necessary financial resources for their implementation. The final version of this document provides one type of green transition that envisages renovation of public buildings, reforms in the area of mining such as transition of the mining regions as well as retraining of about 20% of miners in Bosnia and Herzegovina and employment of about 40% of the miners in Bosnia and Herzegovina in other economic sectors.

However, the final version was not agreed upon nor adopted by the Working Team of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the end of July 2024, so incomplete document was sent to the European Commission. That document does not represent the Reform Agenda and does not reflect all the recommendations of the European Commission. By not reaching an agreement on the final Reform Agenda for the Growth Plan, the European path of Bosnia and Herzegovina is stalled, and the projects in the area of green and digital transition remain "on hold".

Source: pixabay.com

This is concerning the state level of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The state institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as the institutions of the Republika Srpska entity are among those who have not responded to my inquiries by the time of writing this text. The institutions of the entity of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina answered my query, so this text will focus only on this entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina initiated the five-year strategic program for Green Transition in January 2024 in order to establish a systemic approach and strengthen the cooperation for implementation of the green transition, which will be harmonized with the EU Green Agenda for the Western Balkans.

The financial agreement for implementation of the Green Transition strategic program, worth 1.8 million euros, envisages support for transformation in doing business for at least 100 companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina in industries such as metal processing, wood, textile and construction industry and plastic production, by applying circular practices and at the same time preparing for green financial support. In addition, these companies will receive tailored technical support in order to prepare for compliance with EU requirements for the introduction of a cross-border CO2 tax (CBAM), which will also apply to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In June 2024, two new protected areas – Starača and Tišina – were declared in Posavina Canton, which is part of the entity Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A financial agreement for implementation of the projects for "Environmentally acceptable management of persistent organic pollutants in the industrial and waste management sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina (POPS)" and "Sustainability of protected areas in BiH (SPA)" was signed at the end of July, and in mid-September the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the proposal of the Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism, identified the amendments to the Law on Nature Protection.

The Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism confirmed that this Ministry, in terms of fulfilling its obligations from the Sofia Declaration for the Western Balkans, implemented activities in order to improve the legislative framework in terms of harmonizing the regulations with the European Union regulations in relation to specific components of the environment, namely in the area of protection of air, horizontal legislation, waste management and nature protection. A new Law on Air Protection was adopted, including Law on Amendments to the Law on Waste Management, as well as the Regulation on the method of allocation and investment of fees collected for special categories of waste and the requirements for awarding incentives, the Regulation on products that become special categories of waste after use and criteria for calculation and method of payment of fees, and the Rulebook on issuing permits for small business activities in waste management.

The proposal Law on Amendments to the Law on Nature Protection has been sent to the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for consideration and adoption, and the drafting of the Law on Amendments to the Law on Environmental Protection is underway. The Regulation on the conditions for discharge of waste water into the environment and public sewage systems has been amended and based on the provisions of the Law on Water the Rulebook on changes and amendments to the Rulebook on procedures and measures in cases of accidents on water and coastal water areas was drafted.

In terms of projects that were planned and that fall under the Green Agenda, as it is stated by the Istinomer portal, Elektroprivreda Bosnia and Herzegovina implemented only the construction of the Podveležje Mostar wind farm, which has an installed power of 48 MW, and the plan is to build a solar power plant in the immediate vicinity. The company Energoinvest signed a contract in October 2024 for supply of the equipment required for the solar power plants.

According to Eurostat data, Bosnia and Herzegovina exceeded the European Union average of 37.5% in the generation of electricity from green energy sources by some 45%.

Western Balkans - Still far from the goal

According to Pippa Gallop from CEE Bankwatch, the Western Balkans - and Bosnia and Herzegovina - is still far from the goal. This is reflected in several aspects.

An average of 60% of the electricity in Bosnia and Herzegovina is generated in coal-fired thermal power plants. It is these thermal power plants, as well as coal mines, that contribute the most to greenhouse gas emissions. According to data from the Center for Sustainable Energy Transition - RESET, carbon dioxide emissions from the energy blocks of the thermal power plants in Bosnia and Herzegovina is about 14 million tons of carbon dioxide per year. In addition to carbon dioxide, thermal power plants also emit large amounts of dust and sulfur dioxide.

Large emissions of greenhouse gases also mean large material costs, which are reflected in the impact on agricultural soil, forests, and human health. The damage from emissions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to RESET estimates, amounts to 2.5 billion euros.

Subsidies for coal are still large and, according to the data of the Center for Investigative Journalism of BiH (CIN BiH) they amounted to about 125 million euros in the period 2015 - 2017.

This results in polluted air in many cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is one of the most polluted cities in the world during the winter months. The average annual concentration of fine dust can be up to three times higher than the upper limits recommended by the World Health Organization.

The road traffic also contributes to air pollution in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which contributes with more than 90% to the total CO2 emissions coming from the transport sector. The total percentage of greenhouse gas emissions from this transport sector was about 18% in 2018.

Bosnia and Herzegovina continues to be mostly oriented towards construction of small hydropower plants (SHP) which cause most damage because of the destruction of rivers and other natural resources and because of the minimal small benefits for the local community and society. In short, when it comes to SHPs, the harm is greater than the benefit. Moreover, there was no talk about the concept of civic energy during the construction of SHPs and other similar projects.

In the entity of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to the CIN data of Bosnia and Herzegovina, has around 2,000 illegal dumpsites of municipal waste that occupy about 1 million m2 of the area of ​​this entity. The share of the pharmaceutical waste in this regard is 20%, chemical waste is 23% and infectious waste 55%. Bosnia and Herzegovina does not have a legislative framework on circular economy in place.

When it comes to forests, the example of Trnovo Municipality can explain the current situation. The administration of this local community allowed illegal logging near the Olympic Center on Mount Bjelašnica in 2020 for the purpose of building sports fields, hotels and apartments. The mayor of Trnovo Municipality, Ibro Berilo, was arrested in August 2024 on charges of abuse of office.

Only 18 cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina have wastewater treatment systems, and only some of the collected wastewater actually reaches the plant.

Protected areas face many problems - from illegal construction to waste disposal. This results in negative impacts on the wildlife and biodiversity in the protected areas.

The green future of Bosnia and Herzegovina - hope without optimism

The institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as the institutions of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Srpska) did not do as much as they should have done in the last four years, that is, since the signing of the Sofia Declaration. Although certain action plans and strategies have been prepared, the institutions worked more on avoidance and circumvention of these activities instead of fulfilling the assumed commitments. The commitments that have been undertaken have not been evaluated or taken seriously until now, and the progress is limited or non existent. It is therefore difficult to expect that Bosnia and Herzegovina will become carbon neutral by 2050, unless it accelerates its implementation efforts.

In order to achieve this, the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina at all levels – national, entities, cantonal and municipal – should be more actively involved in fulfilling the activities foreseen by the Green Agenda and the Sofia Declaration. Concrete projects and ideas are needed for this and clear procedures and adoption of new laws are necessary in order for all the relevant institutions to act jointly and in a coordinated manner. It is also necessary to harmonize the existing policies with the new policies, strategies and plans. The municipality of Breza is one positive example of that.

A a group of non-governmental organizations from the Western Balkans came up with proposals for improvement of the Action Plan for implementation of the Green Agenda in the Western Balkans, in order to achieve better results and to use the EU funds for environmental protection in a more efficient manner. "Without mandatory implementation and without consequences for non-implementation, the progress is too slow" says this group of non-governmental organizations in a statement.

The commitments that have been assumed were not evaluated nor taken seriously, and therefore, were not fulfilled, and the best indicator of this were the floods and landslides that ravaged Bosnia and Herzegovina at the beginning of October 2024. The biggest and most damaging floods that affected Bosnia and Herzegovina happened just two days before the local elections and a few days before the annual ministerial meeting on the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans in Hamburg.

These floods and landslides are the best answer to the question of whether we have failed in relation to the Green Agenda.

Minel Abaz

Minel Abaz is a journalist and researcher at the Istinomjer portal. Before Istinomjer, he worked in the non-governmental organizations Peace Building Network and Save the Children NWB. In addition to Istinomjer, he publishes texts on the Prometheus and Izvan Svake Kontrole (ISK) portals. He is an alumni of the School of Political Studies of the Council of Europe, the Integrity School of Transparency International BiH, a Senior Fellow of the Humanity In Action organization (2014) and a participant in the International Summer School in Comparative Conflict Studies in Belgrade (2018).