Economic impact of a greener economy and decarbonisation in Serbia

ended

"This Jean Monnet Module ""Economic impact of a greener economy and decarbonisation in Serbia"" (GREENCARB) is aimed at continued alignment of Serbia and other Western Balkans (WB) countries aspiring to join the EU in terms of the environmental acquis, adherence to the European Green Deal and Carbon-Free Europe by 2050 initiatives by the European Commission, as well as the Sofia Declaration adopted by the WB states as part of the Berlin Process. The project team aims to develop two courses at the Belgrade Metropolitan University directly related to the subject, one at undergraduate (Energy Taxation) and one at graduate - master’s level (Green Economics). Both courses are designed to introduce and deepen the students’ knowledge of the EU component of local environmental legislation and of the need to continue to align with the European acquis. More importantly, they aim to inspire students to identify ways to develop, recognize, and apply green development models that complement the basic goal of positive economic growth rather than reinforce the current mantra about the care of the environment being only a financial burden. GREENCARB aims to have at least 50 students per year completing its new courses. One expert-level round table discussion and a peer-reviewed paper on decarbonization in Serbia are planned. A strong emphasis is on disseminating the project results to the general public. The WB, and Serbia in particular, suffer from high rates of pollution, which are the consequence of the fact that the country produces 70% of its energy from one of the dirtiest fossil fuels, lignite. This is the case with many other countries in the region. It is often presented to the public as safe, readily available, and key to the country’s economic future. We aim to gather key arguments from the experts and deliver a different message: decarbonising our energy generation is the key to the economic future and embracing green growth models."