Energy Community Sustainability Forum to tackle key energy and climate challenges

The Energy Community Secretariat in cooperation with the Balkan Green Foundation will launch the first edition of the Energy Community Sustainability Forum on June 9, 2017 in Vienna.

The Sustainability Forum is a response to the continuous expansion of the Energy Community’s work, already covering energy efficiency, environment and renewables and soon also climate change, and the pressing need to establish a multi-stakeholder platform dedicated to the key energy and climate challenges facing the Energy Community Region.

This is why the forum aims to gather all relevant stakeholders, including government officials, the private sector, representatives of civil society, non-governmental organizations and academia, to discuss the best ways to contribute towards a low-carbon Energy Community Region.

On the occasion of announcing Sustainability Forum, Director of the Energy Community Secretariat, Janez Kopač, said for Balkan Green Energy News: “Sustainable energy is energy that is both clean and cost-efficient – both elements are critical for the sustainable futures of the Energy Community Contracting Parties. The purpose of the Forum is to bring together the key players to promote sustainable energy policies and practices across the region. A key tool the Energy Community has already adopted to further this goal is the adoption of the Sustainability Charter endorsed at the Western Balkans 6 Summit in Paris last year. The Conference will take stock of how far the Contracting Parties have gotten in its implementation and channel additional ideas on how to ensure a smooth transition towards a sustainable energy future.”

The conference will host more than 20 distinguished panelists and speakers, including Johannes Hahn, European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations; Blerand Stavileci, Minister of Economic Development of Kosovo*; Ostap Semerak, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine; Dragica Sekulić, Minister of Economy of Montenegro and Ulrike Lunacek, Vice President of the European Parliament.

Participation to the Sustainability Forum is open and free of charge. Registration is now open!