Report: Opportunities and challenges for green economy in Serbia, Macedonia and Bulgaria

Best practices for a green economy in Serbia, Macedonia and Bulgaria are collected in the research report "Revision of the Economy in the Balkans: Change Policy Not Climate!". The report was produced as part of Revision of the Economy in the Balkans: Change Policy not Climate! – a project of the Green European Foundation, implemented by the BlueLink Foundation Bulgaria, the Association for Sustainable Social-Economic Development Sunrise, Macedonia, and Networked, Serbia, with the financial support of the European Parliament to the Green European Foundation. 

The report concludes that Bulgarian performance in the areas of resource and energy efficiency and eco-innovations remains significantly lower than the EU average and almost all the other EU Member States an wider civic and political pressure is required on governmental institutions for their further recognition, mobilisation and involvement in their roles towards the green economy.

Even though the Republic of Macedonia offers many opportunities for sustainable green economic development, the green economy concept is still not clearly seen as a sustainable track that the country should follow in the coming years, the study concludes. It points out the need for development of mechanisms for sharing information about the advantages of the green concept among the decision-makers in different sectors.

According to the research, there is immense potential for developing new jobs and ‘greening’ existing ones in Serbia. It concludes that Serbia needs a comprehensive plan for keeping young, educated people inthe country and developing more programmes for innovation and science exchange in both the region and
the EU. What is needed most, in all the economic sectors analysed, is a bottom-up approach. Greening the economy in Serbia is possible through decentralised initiatives that solve more problems at once.

The research report promotes the transformation of the economy towards environmental, low-carbon and energy-efficient production along with increasing prosperity and equity in society, giving best practices from Serbia, Macedonia and Bulgaria. It also provides useful facts and arguments to raise awareness among stakeholders, politicians and the general public about the economic potential of the green economy.

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