Marija Vučković (photo: Government of Croatia)
Croatia has prepared a Social Climate Plan for the period 2026-2032, worth EUR 1.68 billion. It would introduce measures for the buildings and road transport sectors aimed at supporting households and small businesses.
The draft of Croatia’s Social Climate Plan is under public discussion, which will last until December 22.
The process of adopting the most important national instrument for protecting citizens from the adverse effects of climate transition and the introduction of the European Union’s Emissions Trading System 2 (EU ETS 2) has begun, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Green Transition stressed.
The plan will be financed with EUR 1.26 billion from the EU’s Social Climate Fund, and the remainder from Croatia’s national budget. Essentially, all the funds are coming from the auctions of emission allowances in the EU and Croatia under the EU ETS 2. It is an expansion of the EU ETS to the buildings sector (heating and cooling) and road transport.
The EU established the Social Climate Fund in May 2023 to protect households and small businesses
The expansion could increase the costs of heating, cooling, and transport. In May 2023, the EU established the Social Climate Fund to protect low-income households, micro enterprises, and transport users that could be affected by the cost increase.
The measures and investments also contribute to the implementation of the goals of the National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP).
The Social Climate Plan allocates EUR 658.1 million (39%) for the buildings sector, and EUR 958.4 million (57%) for road transport. Technical assistance is the third component, with EUR 42 million (2.5%).
The measures planned for the buildings sector include support for the establishment of energy communities and subsidies for the energy renovation of family homes. In the road transport sector, the plan envisages investments in cycling, on-demand mobility services, zero-emission vehicles, and railway infrastructure.
Vučković: Restoration planned for 180 kilometers of bike trails
While presenting the draft plan at a session of the National Council for Sustainable Development, Minister of Environmental Protection and Green Transition Marija Vučković said it identifies two groups: the energy poor or vulnerable, and transport poor or vulnerable.
“The plan provides for 10 measures, four of which relate to so-called stationary or energy poverty, and the remaining six to achieving affordable and favorable mobility and reducing the risk of transport poverty,” she explained.
According to the ministry, the plan provides for the renovation of 180 kilometers of bicycle paths, 80 kilometers of railway lines, as well as the procurement of 30 electric trains, 80 electric buses, and 3,000 electric cars.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenković stressed that the plan isn’t just a technical and administrative document, arguing that it determines what Croatia would become in ten, twenty, and fifty years.
“And we want a Croatia that is economically strong, socially just, and sovereign,” Plenković underlined.
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