The President of the Municipality of Pljevlja, Igor Golubović, is one of the signatories of the Declaration on Just Transition, whose goal is to help local communities overcome their dependence on coal by developing alternative sustainable economic activities.
This was confirmed to Vijesti by a member of the NGO Eco Team, Diana Milev Čavor.
She said that the Declaration has so far been signed by mayors from forty-one municipalities from nine European countries. According to Milev Čavor, Golubović signed the Declaration ten days ago, and in addition to him, mayors from Germany, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Bosnia and Herzegovina signed this document.
Miller Čavor points out that the phase-out of coal and the definition of the end date for its use are still not being discussed.
"With the signing of the Declaration on a just transition by the mayor of Pljevlja, we believe that we have finally reached the stage when it is clear to us that the process of energy transition has begun, that the coal sector is not and cannot be the future of Pljevlja and that changes are very necessary and necessary for us. Therefore, a just transition is important for local communities, but it reflects and is important for national economic, social, demographic policy. In order to be ready to enter and exit the transition with as few losses as possible, we must have a plan that will define concrete steps to realize the process of a fair transition", states the statement of the Eco team, signed by Diana MIlev Čavor.
This declaration, she points out, shows the willingness of the mayors to connect and to provide financing, easier access to funds and resources that will help the transition by building regional capacities.
"Intensive changes in the coal sector are taking place across Europe, especially in recent years, both due to the achievement of climate policy goals and the limitation of global temperature growth, and due to the financial unprofitability of such investments. In order to meet these changes ready to deal with them, especially when it comes to local communities and people who are employed in the coal sector, it is necessary to have a vision of what alternative economic values can be, to identify existing potentials that we can and we must further invest and develop them, and take concrete steps to that end. The energy transition will profoundly reshape the labor market in ways that create both new risks and new opportunities for workers: new jobs but, in some cases, job losses, the replacement of some existing occupations with new ones, with the need for new competencies and skills.. .However, what is crucial is the national context and cooperation at the national level, which should include all actors who will be affected by the transition - employees in the coal sector, that is, unions, but also all decision makers at the local and national level", says MIlev Čavor. in the announcement.
He believes that "the vision of a just transition must be recognized and defined at the local level and supported through various government policies".
"Although the topic of a just energy transition has been on the agenda for several years now not only for the authorities but also for trade unions in the countries of the European Union, in Montenegro, despite the current situation in Pljevlja, the reduction of the number of employees in the coal sector and in the overall environmental and economic situation has not yet occurred interest or ambition to really make a serious economic shift by investing in some other economic branches that have the potential for development," the announcement reads.
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