A Climate for Change

Human Development Report - Croatia 2008 Conclusions: A Climate for Change – Findings and Recommendations^233

Box 14-1: Climate change mitigation in relation to the Energy Strategy

On November 10, 2008, the Vice Prime Minister and

Minister of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship

introduced the Energy Strategy Green Paper of the

Republic of Croatia (Green Paper). This launched a

30-day public consultation period on this important

document. The final summarized document (White

Paper) will be submitted to the Croatian Parliament

for discussion and approval.

The Energy Development Strategy is the foundation

document of the Energy Act that defines the energy

policy and future plans for energy development. The

Croatian Parliament adopts the Strategy proposed

by the Government for a ten-year period. Based on

the adopted strategy, the Government creates an

Energy Strategy Implementation Programme for

the following four-year period. The Energy Develop-

ment Strategy of the Republic of Croatia focuses on

the period until 2020, and provides a general fore-

cast until the year 2030. Because of the high level of

uncertainty in forecasting beyond 2020, the Strat-

egy can only suggest a general direction for 2030.

The main goals, principles and challenges

• The Energy Development Strategy of the Re-
  public of Croatia follows three basic energy ob-
  jectives:


• Security of the energy supply


• Competitiveness of the energy system


• Sustainability of energy development

The climate change issue is a key element of the

Strategy - it forms an integral part of future policy

and is one of the pillars for achieving sustainable

energy objectives. One goal of the Strategy is to

contribute to international efforts to combat cli-

mate change. Within this context, Croatia advocates

the principle of “joint but differentiated” responsibil-

ity. The Strategy goes beyond the full implementa-

tion of the EU acquis communautaire by formulating

its post-Kyoto goals based on the new EU climate

change energy package policy. The Strategy adopts

the goal of utilising renewable sources to produce

20% of consumed energy by 2020. It also envisages

the substitution of 10% of diesel and gasoline with

biofuels by 2020. Croatia faces various challenges

in the post-Kyoto regime, such as the proposed

EU burden-sharing scheme that differentiates two

mayor groups of emissions: ETS sector emissions

and non-ETS sector emissions. The ETS sector will

have a single European cap with emission reduc-

tion requirements of 21% compared to 2005 levels.

Emission allowances will no longer be free of charge,

as in the Kyoto period. Auctions will be organized

and open to all member states. In non-ETS areas, a

decrease of emissions by 10% by 2020 is envisaged.

However, in the countries in which GDP per capita

is below the EU average, increases of emissions up

to 20% will be allowed. It is clear that Croatia would

have been in a significantly more favourable posi-

tion had it been a member of the EU during the

formulation of the burden-sharing agreement. In-

stead, Croatia must independently negotiate with

the UNFCCC.

Given this policy context, the Strategy highlights sev-

eral challenges related to climate change mitigation

that will have a decisive impact on the economy:

• Compliance with Kyoto Protocol obligations;


• Compliance with international environmental
  obligations after 2012;


• Integration into the EU ETS and the burden-shar-
  ing agreement between EU member states;


• Competitiveness in the region;


• Pressure from fast-growing sectors;


• Development and application of technology
  for carbon capture and storage;


• Application of nuclear energy