"You are not alone": The path to a just transition passes through cooperation

The path to a truly just energy transition from coal to renewables passes through cooperation, open dialogue and transparency. This was the consensus reached at the "Just Transition Opportunities Across Borders", international conference, part of the European project "Transition Opportunities", implemented by Brand Media Bulgaria, publisher of Economic.bg.

The second panel of the event was dedicated to international cooperation, with representatives from various countries and European organizations expressing their readiness to lend a hand to Bulgaria in its transition path to greener energy.

You are not alone, many regions face the same challenges," commented Elena Ferrario, Senior Thematic Manager at Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform.

She presented the activities of Interreg Europe, which includes the provision of programs within the European Cohesion Policy. "Interreg Europe is part of interregional cooperation, about 560 million euros have been allocated to it for the development of regional policies. We are here to help local authorities implement regional cohesion policies by increasing everyone's knowledge and skills because we believe that this is how regional policies will be better developed and managed," Ferrario said.

Many regions face the same challenges, all these regions are in Interreg, we can give you their contacts, and we can organize a discussion so you can learn from them and go in the right direction," Ferrario added.

"In Greece, we would be happy to share information about our experience with you," said George Kremlis, Honorary Director of the European Commission, Ambassador of the European Public Law Organization in Bulgaria, Member of the Board of Directors and Director of the Circular Economy and Climate Institute.

According to him, there is a need for robust planning.

We need to have plans in order to know where to place different things - where the solar installations, wind farms and also, where even the gas pipelines will be in some of the regions," Kremlis explained.

He also paid special attention to the fact that businesses in the target regions cannot be told that they will simply have to shut down. "There must be specific plans for the specific regions. The plan must be tailored to the respective region and the companies that use lignite. There must be justice for the people working in the mines, in other local enterprises, and for the people in the region. We need to promote (economic) activities that previously could not be carried out in highly polluted regions", commented the honorary director of the European Commission.

He recommended that Bulgaria also consider a Law on Public-Private Partnerships, as is the case in Greece.

Those who pollute must also be involved in solving the problem and protecting the environment. But measures must be taken to protect the enterprise, to help it transform itself, work and turn to another field of action," Kremlis said.

"I can't say that in Greece we are among the best or that we are the leaders. Everyone learns on the go and only after you start doing something, you can find out where your weaknesses are," added the expert.

Ivan Sergejev, Coordinator of the Just Transition Process at the Ministry of Finance of Estonia, highlighted another important element.

There must be critical structures - for us it was the trade unions that helped us, but also criticized us," Sergejev said.

He added that communication is also key, according to him, the right information about the energy transition must be communicated and there must be good relations with the media.

Separately, you don't need to "do everything yourself - for example, there is no need for the Minister of Finance to attend every meeting, at one point it turned out that the partners can do it on their own," Sergejev added.

Creating a partnership is extremely, crucially important, you need to think very carefully about what, in your case, would work. In our case (Estonia), it was the separation of priorities at the national and local level," said Sergejev.

The last member of the panel to speak was Eng. Mihael Juric, Deputy Prefect of Sisak-Moslavina County in Croatia, who presented his region's experience with green transformation. Reportedly, it includes a carefully developed plan for a just energy transition together with the relevant ministry of the country. According to the plan, entitled Plan for a Just Territorial Transition, there are three priorities - increasing employment opportunities in the region, creating jobs with high added value and improving the education system. "We have experience and many things we want to share with you, that's why we wanted to join this event," commented the deputy prefect.

Translated by Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov

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