A recent climate action held by environmental activists in the former mining area of Kamengrad – Sanski Most municipality, warns that it is high time to decarbonise Bosnia and Herzegovina by eliminating dirty energy sources and finding acceptable and renewable climate solutions.
This action was held to mark the World Climate Change Day, four years since the historic moment when the Paris Agreement entered into force within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
“In this past period, we have not moved much from the point of solving the problem of pollution and emissions, especially from the energy sector, which is among the most deserving and responsible ones for climate and environmental crisis. By this, I especially mean dirty energy sources and fossil fuels such as coal, which BiH continues to favor as its natural resource, although it is actually becoming more and more harmful and expensive for the entire population and the planet, “said Majda Ibrakovic from the Center for Envirnoment.
She pointed out that BiH is still planning new coal-fired power plants, not realizing that the region, Europe and the world are moving in a completely different direction – decarbonisation and shutdown of thermal power plants in parallel with energy efficiency and intensive investment in accessible renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy.
The action was symbolically held nearby the Zlauš open-pit mine in Kamengrad, where a year ago the local community once again refused dirty energy projects such as Kamengrad thermal power plant in their neighbourhood.
„We sent messages from the old facility that was part of the former coal mine „Kamengrad“ and thus pointed out that coal is an energy source of the past and that the more we delay giving up new investments in coal – the more we “bury” ourselves in pollution. On the other hand, Sanski Most, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina, have the potential to obtain energy from renewable sources, primarily solar, but also to develop alternative activities such as agriculture and tourism. With this action, we wanted to give support to the local community and their strong opposition to coal exploitation and pollution in this area “said Ivana Culic, activist and assistant in the Energy and Climate Change Program.
BiH should continue to implement the adopted climate strategy in line with the EU Framework on Climate and Energy Policies until 2030, including accompanying legislation. This means that we need to align climate and energy policy with the objectives of the Paris Agreement, as soon as possible. This will ultimately result in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating the effects of the climate crisis. Renewable solutions are out there, above and around us, and if we do not start using them properly, we could very quickly feel the harmful consequences of the climate crisis “in our onw backyard” – if we haven’t already.