In Skopje, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, on June 16 and 17, the Macedonian Energy Forum was held, this year named “Mapping the Energy Future of the Western Balkans”. Its goal was to accelerate the region’s path towards the implementation of clean energy.
Programme director of RES Foundation, Aleksandar Macura, participated in Panel 7: Just Energy Transition in Turkey and the Western Balkans: Lessons and Opportunities.
He assessed that “we don’t know what the transition will be like, but we know that the current situation related to energy in the region is unjust. Thermal power plants continue to emit illegally huge amounts of sulfur dioxide, contributing to air pollution that causes tens of thousands of lost years of life in the region. Public funds do not reach people in the state of energy poverty, and the ways in which public funds are allocated from all sources do not promise to change that. The voices of the poor, who are far more numerous than those employed in the lignite industry, are ignored and their needs are not met.”
“The result is not only unjust for them, but for all citizens because energy poverty is a public problem and threatens many public goods. Obstacles to the development of civil energy are also numerous and unfairly slow down civil investments in more sustainable energy. It will not be possible to implement any transition if citizens in the state of need and citizens able to help are not involved,” concluded Macura.