Eighty Croatian organizations demand green recovery from newly elected lawmakers

Renewable energy sources and investments in knowledge, innovations and people and domestic resources must be the foundation of the Croatian green recovery from the health and economic crisis, according to an initiative that 80 organizations and  companies and 550 scientists sent to the country’s authorities.

No less than eighty civil society organizations, energy and regional development agencies, institutions and businesses and 550 scientists wrote joint demands to newly elected lawmakers, requesting a forceful transition toward low carbon development and job creation. They stressed it is the crucial moment for the creation of a strong foundation for a truly sustainable and green Croatian recovery.

The next Government of the Republic of Croatia and the new Croatian Parliament have important decisions to make, and everyone is facing a period of recovery from one of the biggest health and economic crises in modern history, reads the call for cooperation, which other organizations can join. The complexity and connections between the causes and the consequences of the crisis points to the need for cooperation between all levels of society, according to the signatories.

EU will back green recovery with financing

They added the European Union recognized the guidelines and that it is ready to support the green recovery with financing. “We have to use this moment to the fullest,” Luka Tomac from Green Action underscored.

The Parliament should back investments into domestic resources – knowledge and people, sustainable and renewable energy sources, industry and agriculture, innovations and increasing the quality of life in cities, environmentalists asserted.

Crucial six months

“All development and investment decisions and actions we undertake in the next six months will define our development in the next ten years or so, and with it our ability to work on reducing carbon emissions and on the inevitable adaptation to climate change,” said Ivana Rogulj, Program Director at the Society for Sustainable Development Design (DOOR).

Other organizations and institutions can join the call

The demands were written by DOOR, Greenpeace in Croatia, Green Action and the Green Energy Cooperative. They announced the dialogue with the next government will be held in September.

Znanstvenici za klimu – Hrvatska, a group of 550 scientists advocating climate action, is also participating. Among other organizations, there are five regional development and energy agencies, the Croatian Business Council for Sustainable Development, economic and interest association Renewable Energy Sources of Croatia, Croatian professional association for solar energy HSUSE, the School Strike 4 Climate movement and the local branch of the European Institute for Innovation and Technology.

No room for fossil fuels

The signatories demand policies to be harmonized with the Low Carbon Strategy and the European Green Deal, and for ambitions regarding emissions to be strengthened, alongside phasing out fossil fuels. The proposal is to redirect subsidies for the sector into stimulus for energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, the struggle against energy poverty and into research and development.

The renovation of buildings damaged in the March earthquake must be comprehensive and in a low carbon manner, the organizations and firms said. They added citizens and communities must be enabled and stimulated to participate in the energy transition, with legislative and financial support and education and to make it possible for them to produce energy for their own needs.

From mobility to local development

The eighty signatories demand investment in sustainable transportation and incentives for sustainable mobility, particularly infrastructure for cycling, public transportation and e-mobility. Another initiative is for reform measures to gain access to EU funds and enable the creation of green jobs and industry.

The document adds local and environmentally friendly food production needs stimulus as well together with measures to adapt to climate change. The last request is to enable local and regional authorities to invest in measures for climate change mitigation and low carbon and zero carbon development.