Skopje, 22 November 2022 (MIA) – Minister of Environment and Physical Planning Naser Nuredini participated Tuesday in the annual meeting of the Initiative for coal regions in transition in the Western Balkans and Ukraine, which aims to enable dialogue and knowledge sharing between the relevant parties in order to gradually phase out coal and move towards the use of clean and renewable energy sources in the region. In the “Strategic approach to coal phase-out: has the energy crisis become a game-changer?” panel discussion, Minister Nuredini spoke about the political and financial perspectives of a just transition in North Macedonia, as well as the deadlines for phasing out coal and moving towards new energy sources set by the Energy Community, as well as the current energy crisis which requires the redistribution of budget funds from already planned projects. “I believe that we are perhaps the most ambitious country in the Western Balkans when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions. We are committed to our strategy for 2030, and will carry out a transition to completely phase out coal. Ideally, we planned for this to be done by 2028. Unfortunately, now we will have to postpone it by a year or two. The reality is that we, like every other country in Europe, have started using more fossil fuels. As a country, unfortunately we only produce 75 percent of our country’s energy needs and always import around 25 percent. The current prices in Europe have had a big effect on the budget. We have to redistribute funds, to be more flexible, to suspend certain projects important for the EU accession process, because right now we are only focused on maintaining a lower electricity price for our citizens,” said Minister Nuredini in his address. As a solution for the issues he stressed the need for regional cooperation through integration and as many regional projects as possible, especially underscoring technical support and cheaper technology, which would facilitate the green transition and make it financially sustainable for North Macedonia. The Initiative for coal regions in transition in the Western Balkans and Ukraine was launched in December 2020 and aims to help countries and regions to move away from coal towards a carbon-neutral economy, while ensuring that this transition is just. It will deliver financial support for projects and transition programmes to coal regions. The initiative is led by the European Commission and its international partners. North Macedonia is part of the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans, a long-term socio-economic scenario which aims to provide a sustainable future for the region. ad/ba/