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