Montenegro asks Energy Community to review its CO2 target for 2030

Montenegro has asked the Energy Community Secretariat to review its commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030. The goal is hardly achievable and would require extreme measures, according to the country’s government.

The Ministry of Energy said Minister Saša Mujović has written to the secretariat’s Director Artur Lorkowski.

In the letter, Mujović asked him to help Montenegro achieve its national energy and climate goals by 2030 in a sustainable way.

The goal is difficult to achieve and would require strict measures

The ministry noted that Montenegro is obliged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% from the 1990 level. The country measured 3,307 kilotons of carbon dioxide equivalent, which means it must reduce the amount by 27% or 887 kilotons by 2030.

It is difficult to achieve the objective and it would take radical measures including a significant reduction in the number of operating hours of the Pljevlja coal-fired thermal power plant, replacing 50% of conventional cars with electric ones or intervening in the non-energy sector, primarily agriculture, the ministry said.

All the listed activities, it added, would be an exceptional burden from the economic point of view and would certainly threaten the standard of living, the statement reads.

Montenegro is the only country in the region for which the carbon sink data hasn’t been accounted for

Mujović said the Government of Montenegro is responsible and that it doesn’t want to evade its obligations in environmental protection and climate action but that, on the other hand, it mustn’t jeopardize citizens by applying unsustainable measures.

The ministry claimed it is the only country in the region for which the carbon sink effect hasn’t been accounted for. The item is the amount of atmospheric CO2 absorbed by forests, lands and oceans, offsetting emissions.

Mujović asked Lorkowski to reconsider Montenegro’s obligations and to acknowledge at least some part of the carbon sink effect. That way the country would get an opportunity to fulfill its obligations on its path to joining the European Union and, at the same time, preserve the economy and the standard of living of its citizens, the minister asserted.