BELGRADE – SERBIA

500+ participants / 80+ speakers / 20+ panels
BSC2023

11-13 OCTOBER / HOTEL HYATT

The Role of Serbia in the European Green Deal

November 20, 2024 by BSC
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The final panel of the day included the emotionally charged topic of lithium mining in Serbia, in the context of the Green transition towards carbon neutrality. While the panellists considered that lithium is part of the need for raw materials that is meant to make a more competitive Europe, they agreed that in Serbia it has been a public relations disaster.

The fears expressed were related to the lack of government transparency, which creates the worry that  many transactions will be done behind closed doors and not in the interest of the citizens. The panellists explored the ways in which the project could be improved in Serbia, including the early engagement of the population, and creating the financial benefits for the local community. Transparency and involvement of the local population were seen as key elements for a successful energy transition.
Jelica Minić, member of the Executive Board of the European Movement in Serbia, started by expressing the view that Serbia should not strive to sustain the Rio Tinto-run lithium project, as the economic benefits were not worth the socio-political and environmental damage. Minić expanded on the economic argument by stressing that the main benefits would go to a private company and to private interests instead of the population. Minić highlighted the main problem of trusting the Serbian government, and expressed a worry that the EU is appearing to care more about raw materials than about the Serbian population. The only tangible potential benefit Minić observed was the geopolitical one, which would allow Serbia to show that it is part of the Western camp, gaining also leverage for the accession process. Even so, with the state of transparency and public institutions being inadequate and without open competition for public procurements, the project cannot go ahead in the way it is envisioned. Minić advised that a larger debate needs to be held on the topic, and that institutions need to properly function before any new steps are taken.

 

 

Julian Popov, former Minister of the Environment of Bulgaria and a Senior Fellow of the European Climate Foundation, started by stressing that mining is an activity which damages the environment, and as such is always a sensitive issue. Popov suggested that for such projects to be successful there has to be strong engagement with the public, and that the private companies which form partnerships with governments have to behave properly and in accordance with the rule of law. Popov highlighted the importance of critical raw materials for the strategic autonomy of the EU, reminding the audience that Serbia is a part of the EU Green Deal and of the plan to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. On nuclear energy, Popov mentioned that even though he is a supporter of it, its future is uncertain as the development of the energy market is difficult to predict. Popov also warned that many environmentalists who are supposed to support renewable energy have started turning against it because they prioritise the environment over energy. The way to prevent this scenario is to create shared value with the local community in a fair way, and to include them in the entire process.