The report represents an independent critical review of many challenges and provides tangible proposals to the Government of the Republic of Serbia
Coalition 27 used a Media Centre press conference to present its third report entitled “Chapter 27 in Serbia: still under preparation”.
The coalition’s annual report summarises the results of monitoring and analysing changes in the field of the environment and climate change in the Republic of Serbia, created in accordance with the process of EU accession negotiations under the auspices of Chapter 27.
The report represents an independent critical review of many challenges and provides tangible proposals to the Government of the Republic of Serbia aimed at making genuine progress in the process of EU negotiations and accession, as well as improving the situation in the environment.
The report Chapter 27 in Serbia: still under preparation deals with problems that have accumulated over decades and that can only be solved with the full commitment of the Government and a firm commitment to place the environment and climate change high on the list of priorities.
Moreover, the report of Coalition 27 intends to demonstrate that climate change and the quality of the environment are not merely obligations stemming from negotiations with the EU, but rather matters that impact on the health of all citizens,” said Tanja Petrović, Director of Youth Researchers of Serbia, speaking on behalf of Coalition 27.
Chapter 27 – environment and climate change are often referred to in the Serbian public and media as the most extensive and expensive chapter. However, if we take into account that Serbia’s air is among the most polluted in Europe (according to statistics of the European Environment Agency) and that the World Health Organisation has estimated that the economic costs of premature deaths resulting from air pollution in Serbia amount to 33.5% of GDP, and that only 10 per cent of wastewater in our country is purified, while the budget of the Republic of Serbia for water management in 2017 is envisaged at only 0.2% of the total budget, it is clear that the situation is far from favourable.
Petrović added that “the environment cannot wait for a new election cycle. It is necessary to establish a long-term strategy for solving these problems, bearing in mind that the most recent estimates on how much all of that will cost us have long since become outdated and we are actually aiming at a moving target”.