News / 05/07/2017
Exploring lifestyle changes in Europe- EUCalc Expert Workshop in Brighton
“Exploring lifestyle changes in Europe” workshop took place at University of Sussex, Brighton, UK, back-to-back with the Sustainable Production and Consumption Conference. This workshop was the first in a series of ten that will be held during the EUCalc development phase to elicit expert feedback in the different sectors. This...
News / 21/06/2017
SEE CHANGE NET hosted EUSEW session residential energy efficiency in SEE — challenges and opportunities
On 20th June 2017 in Brussels DG NEAR and SEE Change NET co-hosted the only Western Balkans debate within the framework of the EU Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) in Brussels, entitled „ Residential energy efficiency in South East Europe –Challenges and opportunities“. Colin Wolfe DG NEAR opened the conference saying “the...
News / 07/05/2017
Advisory Board Meeting of SEE Change Net
The first physical meeting of SEE Change Net Advisory Board was held in March, in Brussels. The members of the Advisory Board had the chance to meet and discuss the work done so far and future plans and expectations for SEE Change Net. The meeting had additional guest conversationalists who...
News / 12/04/2017
THE FIRST CRITICAL CO-DESIGN WORKSHOP OF EUROPEAN CALCULATOR PROJECT
The first critical co-design workshop for the development of an EU wide (and Switzerland) public policy climate change model called European Calculator, on 23rd April in Brussels gathered more that 15 prominent professionals from private and civil sector, as well as the participants from European Commission-DG Energy, Environment,...
News / 23/11/2016
Open letter to Members of the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety of the European Parliament on the revision of the EU ETS
SEE Change Net, along with 30 other organizations, signed an open letter to the Members of the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety of the European Parliament on the revision of the EU ETS. The text of the letter is available below. *** Dear Members of the European Parliament’s Committee on...
News / 08/11/2016
Enlargement countries stall on climate and energy reforms
Belgrade, Brussels, Podgorica, Pristina, Sarajevo, Skopje, Tirana, Zagreb, 8 November 2016 – Coal continues to dominate energy systems of the Western Balkan countries aspiring to become EU members, while the uptake of renewable energy has been extremely slow. These are the main conclusions of a new scorecard report launched today...
News / 08/11/2016
New South East Europe NGO scorecard report shows mixed progress towards a sustainable energy sector
8 November 2016, Belgrade, Podgorica, Pristina, Sarajevo, Skopje, Tirana, Zagreb Progress – albeit uneven - is being made towards increasing sustainability in South East Europe’s energy sector, according to a new scorecard report launched today by a group of NGOs (1). CO2 emissions, electricity losses and energy intensity have all seen...
News / 14/10/2016
Energy poverty results in debt, cold homes and health problems for citizens of SEE, warn civil society organizations
(Sarajevo, October 14 2016) Energy poverty is a growing problem in the countries of South East Europe (SEE), and results in debt, cold homes and health problems, according to a new report [1] published by a group of civil society organizations from across the region [2]. The report was launched...
News / 15/06/2016
New SEE Energy Roadmap shows investing in energy efficiency in buildings would reduce final energy demand by almost 50% and create new job opportunities
(Brussels, June 15 2016) Even though buildings consume almost 50% of all energy spent in South East Europe (SEE), €500 million of funds available for energy efficiency projects were unused in 2015 [1]. Investing more in energy efficiency in buildings would reduce the final energy demand for heating and cooling...
News / 30/05/2016
EU Sustainable Energy Week 2016 - Meeting 2020 and 2030 goals in South East Europe: The business case and job opportunities in energy efficiency
It gives us great pleasure to invite you to the policy session South East Europe - Business and Job Opportunities from EU goals, to be held as a part of the Policy Conference of EU Sustainable Energy...
News / 05/05/2016
Chinese investments in the region should shift from coal to renewable energy and energy efficiency
(Sarajevo, Subotica – May 5 2016) China, along with 177 other countries of the world (1), has signed the Paris Agreement in April 2016, and with that pledged to a fast track development to a renewable future. However, China’s funding of energy projects in the South East Europe (SEE) region...
News / 14/04/2016
South East Europe should follow the markets and the science and stop new coal investments now
Sarajevo, April 14 2016 - New research recently released by Oxford University and Institute for New Economic Thinking shows that in order for global warming to stay below 2°C and prevent catastrophic flooding and refugee crisis, all new power capacities will have to be carbon free by 2017. Since all the...
News / 15/03/2016
€8.5 billion in health costs from Balkan coal plants prompt call for EU policy rethink
Brussels/Sarajevo, 15 March 2016 – First-ever estimates of the huge health costs associated with air pollution from coal power plants in the Western Balkans are released today. (1) The costings of health damage should prompt a rethink on the EU’s policy approach to the region, according to report’s authors, the...
News / 30/11/2015
Renewables-based and cost-effective energy system in South East Europe feasible, shows new energy model
(Sarajevo, November 30 2015) As the climate talks begin today in Paris, a group of civil society organisations under SEE SEP [1] programme launched a video game version of the South East Europe (SEE) [2] 2050 Energy Model [3]. The organisations argue that SEE countries can have a cleaner,...
News / 26/11/2015
Petition “Energy for the Long Run” receives answer from the European Commission
“I would like to thank you for the letter with the signatures of the petition Energy for the Long Run. Commissioner Arias Cañete has asked me to reply.”
We did it! As promised and made possible by your signatures, we handed in the petition to Mr. Cañete on October 16 2015,...
News / 23/11/2015
Harmful hydropower projects in SE Europe enabled by sub-standard environmental assessments
Zagreb – WWF and civil society organizations in the framework of the SEE SEP project have today published a new report: EIA/SEA of hydropower projects in Southeast Europe – Meeting the EU standards. The report, prepared in collaboration with a team of international independent experts, looks at the quality of...
News / 16/10/2015
CSOs deliver over 16 000 signatures for a cleaner energy future in Tirana
(Tirana, Albania, October 16 2015) A group of CSOs from South East Europe (SEE) delivered over 16 000 petition signatures to Miguel Arias Cañete, EU Commissioner for Energy and Climate Action and Co-Chair of the Ministerial Council of the Energy Community today before its meeting in Tirana, Albania. The regional...
News / 29/09/2015
Southeast Europe must close the gap on energy efficiency, says new report
(Brussels, Belgium / Podgorica, Montenegro, 29 September 2015) Countries of Southeast Europe (SEE) waste much more energy than the members of the European Union, according to a new report published today by a group of civil society organizations from across the region[1]. Published in the final stage of adopting the...
News / 07/09/2015
Energy for the Long Run - Support the action by signing the petition!
On September 7, the SEE SEP network of organizations started an online petition dedicated to advocating a better energy future for all of the citizens in South East Europe. 18 organizations from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo*, Macedonia**, Montenegro and Serbia, with the technical support of Friends of the Earth...
News / 22/07/2015
South East Europe 2050 Energy Model - Conclusions on the Call for Evidence process are now published!
The conclusions on the South East Europe 2050 Energy Model - Call for Evidence process are now published! After 18 months, more than 500 consultations with key stakeholders and relevant experts in the region and a long process of data gathering, in March 2015 we published the South East Europe 2050...
News / 17/06/2015
EU energy roadmap more cost effective for South East Europe than current policies, shows new energy model
June 17, Brussels, Belgium - By aligning their energy policies with the EU energy roadmap and closing all coal power plants and replacing them with renewable energy sources, the countries of South East Europe (SEE) can have a cleaner and cheaper energy system. These are the findings of seven new energy...
News / 05/06/2015
Governments of SEE countries should submit their ambitious and fair climate commitments as soon as possible
Today, on June 5th, World Environment Day, the existential threat to human life is climate change. On this occasion, SEE SEP network of CSOs from South East Europe calls upon the governments of the region to act promptly and put forward ambitious and fair climate commitments for the upcoming global climate...
News / 14/05/2015
EU Sustainable Energy Week 2015 - Fair, Clean and Efficient Energy System in South East Europe and the Neighbourhood
It gives us great pleasure to invite you, in cooperation with DG Energy and DG NEAR, to a half day policy conference titled Fair, Clean, and Efficient Energy System in South East Europe and...
News / 10/04/2015
Collaborative Leadership: Building effective and productive relationships
In February 2015, the SEE Change Net and SEE SEP team participated in a Collaborative Leadership workshop, held by Joan Van Den Brink of Araba Consulting in Belgrade, Serbia. Joan holds a holds a PhD in Organic Chemistry, awarded by Cambridge University in 1988, but since that time, her...
News / 23/03/2015
Breaking the monopoly on non-public data in the energy sector is crucial for the process of transparency
[Vienna, Sarajevo, March 23 2015] Collecting energy data in the South East Europe region has been an extremely challenging task until now. For many years a lack of transparency and access to reliable data have prevented an open, fact-based dialogue on energy policies in South East Europe. In response to...
News / 10/03/2015
South East Europe should not become a dumping ground for dirty energy projects, say MEPs
[Brussels, 10 March 2015] Last Friday, 6th March, Chairs of the European Parliament Delegations for six* EU accession countries and the Vice-President of the European Parliament sent a letter to Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič and commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete, urging them to ensure that the reform of the Energy Community Treaty...
News / 06/03/2015
Southeastern Europe deserves a better energy future – and now is the time to ensure it happens
March 6, 2015 Brussels, Prague, Sarajevo The revision process of the Energy Community Treaty [1] is entering its final lap these days, offering a real opportunity to transform member countries' energy landscape. More than one year since the start of the Treaty revision, the second round of public consultations is closing today. A...
News / 13/11/2014
Our brand new media, advocacy and communications manual is now published!
In April 2014 SEE Change Net organized a media/advocacy/communication workshop for members of CSOs who are a part of SEE SEP (South East Europe Sustainable Energy Policy) network. The SEE SEP network engages with policy makers at all levels in its work, and simultaneously reaches out to media. To maximize the...
News / 14/10/2014
Comments on the High Level Reflection Group report
A group of 20 NGOs have recently published a document Comments on the High Level Reflection Group of the Energy Community Report 'An Energy Community for the Future'. Authored by Malgorzata Smolak and Barbara Skardzinska (Client Earth, Poland), Aleksandra Bujaroska (Front 21/42, Macedonia) and Garret Tankosić-Kelly (SEE Change Net, Bosnia...
News / 22/09/2014
Energy Community Meeting Must Deliver Reforms
A group of leading NGOs active in the Balkan region are calling for urgent reform of the Energy Community Treaty, as its Ministerial Council prepares to meet in Kiev on September 23rd. The groups are calling for both the expansion of the environmental and climate component of the Treaty and...
News / 14/09/2014
think-cell provides support for SEE SEP
We want to thank think-cell for providing free visualization software for our regional project SEE SEP. think-cell is a Microsoft Office add-in that automates and simplifies a number of otherwise time-consuming tasks in the creation of complex, data-driven charts in PowerPoint. A number of chart types, such as waterfalls, Marimekkos...
News / 14/08/2014
SEE SEP Evaluation
The SEE SEP programme recently underwent an externally led interim evaluation. The purpose of the interim evaluation was to provide a deep and comprehensive evaluation of the results of the project, identify lessons learned and design recommendations, which can be applied in the next two-year project cycle. The SEE SEP programme...
News / 24/06/2014
Corruption serious barrier to sustainable energy system in southeast Europe, says new report
June 24, Brussels, Belgium - High-level corruption in the energy sector is affecting countries in South Eastern Europe, with tens of millions of euros being lost over the last decades in seven countries from the region[1] Winners and Losers: Who Benefits from High Level Corruption in the South East Europe...
News / 19/06/2014
Recommendations Regarding the Reform of Energy Community Treaty
The joint position of 20 CSOs on the reform of Energy Community Treaty in respect of its future work was presented during the 33rd Permanent High Level Group Meeting in Vienna, on Wednesday, June 18 2014, through the report "Recommendations Regarding the Reform of Energy Community Treaty". On 24 October 2013,...
News / 01/06/2014
Panel Discussion "Impact of Weak Institutions and Corruption on Energy Investment in South East Europe"
SEE Change Net in cooperation with European Environmental Bureau (EEB), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), CEE Bankwatch and 14 CSOs from South East Europe which are all part of SEE SEP (South East Europe Sustainable Energy Policy) partnership, are organizing a panel discussion "Impact of Weak Institutions and...
News / 20/03/2014
NGOs call for much stronger environmental and climate commitments
As the EU Council tomorrow debates A framework for climate and energy in the period from 2020 to 2030 [1], proposed by the European Commission, NGOs today called for much stronger environmental and climate commitments in the upcoming revised Treaty of Energy Community, which brings together the Western Balkan countries,...
News / 12/02/2014
Energy Community Treaty revision
In October 2013, the Ministerial Council of the Energy Community decided to extend by ten years the EU-backed Energy Community Treaty, which brings together the Western Balkans, Ukraine and Moldova in order to integrate them with the EU energy market. The original Treaty entered into force in 2006 and expires...
News / 14/01/2014
Reply From Three Commissioners Regarding SEE SEP Letters
After the two letters the SEE SEP network directed towards the Energy Community in October, regarding the Ministerial Council of Energy Community, which took place on October 24 in Belgrade, and the subject of setting up a High Level Reflection Group (HLRG), we received a reply from the three commissioners:...
News / 14/01/2014
SEE SEP Energy Model
SEE SEP is a multi-year, multi-country, EU funded regional programme, which intends to use fact-based advocacy to allow civil society groups to go beyond protest and argue for more citizen friendly EU orientated energy policies in the countries of the South East Europe. A key component of SEE SEP is...
News / 13/11/2013
Warm, Safe, Clean Energy - Which Path are the SEE Countries Taking?
South East Europe (SEE) stands at a crossroad. There are plans to spend €30 billion on energy projects over the next ten years in our region. Decisions made by the governments of the SEE countries will determine, for better or for worse, how warm the citizens are, how safe the...
News / 30/10/2013
Civil society urges President Barroso to review the list of energy projects in Western Balkans for alignment with EU principles
Brussels - NGOs from across the region are expressing very serious concerns about the list of 35 priority energy projects approved by the European Commission-backed Energy Community meeting in Belgrade, Serbia, last Thursday. The decision to support projects that are in conflict with EU environment goals and climate goals has...
News / 22/10/2013
The avoidable health cost of dirty coal in just three countries of the region is 6.5 billion Euros
Ministerial Council of the Energy Community Treaty, led by Serbia, is scheduled to meet in Belgrade on Thursday, October 24 to decide on their approach to cleaning up pollution from dirty coal in line with their EU membership aspirations. A group of NGOs have published a report to contribute to...
News / 30/09/2013
Public consultation process on the EBRD draft Energy Sector Strategy
SEE SEP is a group of 17 partners who work together on a multi-country, multi-year, EU funded programme entitled South East Europe Sustainable Energy Policy (SEE SEP). Representatives from our group recently attended the EBRD public consultation hearing in Belgrade on the 4th of September and, while we are assured that all the...
News / 04/09/2013
Civil society groups to EBRD in Belgrade: Coal Kills!
As the EBRD holds a consultation meeting in Belgrade today on its new energy strategy, civil society groups have warned the bank that it must stop financing coal, which has recently been shown to cause 23 000 deaths annually throughout Europe [1], as well as being an important contributor to dangerous climate change....
News / 10/08/2013
Request regarding upcoming public consultations on Energy Sector Strategy
Following the critical decisions by the World Bank and European Investment Bank (EIB) to move away from dirty coal, our organisations are now calling on the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to do the same. The recently published report "Invest in Haste, Repent at Leisure" states that...
News / 30/06/2013
Guidelines for support to civil society
Outcomes of online and national consultations May-June 2013 The European Commission's DG Enlargement is in the process of developing guidelines for support to civil society in the enlargement countries for the period 2014-2020. Consultation on the first draft of the guidelines took place in Brussels on 25 and 26 April 2013...
News / 25/06/2013
Development banks energy investments jeopardise the ability of Balkan accession countries to meet EU energy and climate targets, says new report
Heavy investments in fossil fuels by international financial institutions (IFIs) in the Western Balkans are hindering these countries’ compliance with EU accession requirements, finds a new report - “Invest in Haste, Repent at Leisure” - from civil society organizations CEE Bankwatch Network, SEE Change Net and WWF, created as a part of SEE...
News / 12/05/2013
The Energy Community's Social Strategy Outline
The social strategy outline to accompany the regional energy strategy was presented at the 6th Social Forum of The Energy Community Treaty (ECT) on 23rd April in Belgrade. In regard to this process, CSOs from the region urged that before any discussions or decisions are made regarding either of...
News / 21/02/2013
Public Hearing in European Parliament, 21 February 2013
Eur
opean Parliament in Brussels, Belgium hosted a public hearing “European Energy Community Strategy: Political, Economic and Environmental Challenges in South East Europe”. The aim of the public hearing was to debate the 2012 Energy Strategy of the Energy Community, developed in July 2012 and...
News / 12/02/2013
Valentine's "Kick-Off" workshop
Valentine's "Kick-Off" Workshop with the EC Enlargement funded South East Europe Sustainable Energy Team in Sarajevo. The project has 16 partners and is also supported by Balkan Trust for Democracy and the UNDP BiH. A key component of this fact based advocacy...
News / 11/11/2012
South East Europe Sustainable Energy Policy
On the 29th of November SEE Change Net signed a four year Framework Partnership Agreement and Grant Contract with the European Commission's DG Englargement. The 1 million euro multi-country, multi-partner programme, entitled South East Europe Sustainable Energy...
News / 02/12/2011
Climate Policy World Tour: Focus on the Western Balkans/South East Europe (SEE)
During the first session of the Climate Policy World Tour series, which looked more closely at national climate policy developments around the world with the help of its partner organisations, Garret Tankosić-Kelly, principal of SEE Change Net, presented a base line study of the energy situation in South East Europe...