Regional Conference on Green Economic Growth

On June 11, the Bulgarian School of Politics "Dimitry Panitza," supported by BTD, organized a regional conference under the theme "Balkan Policies for Green Economic Growth."

The event aimed to promote a common understanding on energy-related policies between stakeholders in the Western Balkans, including governments, energy companies, energy experts, investors, analysts and NGOs. Held just before the Rio+20 world leaders conference, the forum provided opportunities for the exchange of information and ideas for pure energy and energy efficiency, and became a platform for the transfer of sustainable energy policies, to facilitate the integration of countries from the Western Balkans in the European energy community.

During the conference, organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism of Bulgaria, Sandrine Dixson- Declève, Director, EU Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change and Peter Kaderjak, Director, Regional Centre for Energy Policy Research, made the first presentation of the report “Clean Energy Finance Solutions Central and Eastern Europe,” which analyzes the opportunities provided by renewable energy sources for large-scale cross-border cooperation, job creation and growth in four countries (Bulgaria, Romania, the Czech Republic and Hungary), and provides recommendations on enhancing dialogue between governments and investors through the lenses of the future energy profile of the region.

Speakers included Lazar Gechevski, Director, Energy Agency, Macedonia; Ramadan Hasani, Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Kosovo; Dirk Buschle, Deputy Director, Energy Community Secretariat, and representatives of business, government, and civil society sectors.

 More information about the event’s outcomes, presentations and reports can be found here.