Legislative framework of climate change in the Republic of Serbia

Abstract

The struggle against climate change is one of the priorities in the policy of the international community. In this paper the authors have analyzed legal framework relevant for the protection of climate change in the Republic of Serbia. In the Republic of Serbia, the energy sector is the largest source of greenhouse gasses, but it is also the sector with the greatest potential for the application of mitigation measures. The country has already established important components of the institutional and legal framework for the purposes of the struggle against climate change. At the same time, there remains a need for further harmonization of national legislation with international trends in the field of climate change, as well as with the obligations arising from ratified international documents and the process of European integration, as well as capacity and knowledge building within relevant and competent institutions both at national and local levels, but also at the level of general public. Within the Republic of Serbia the obligations towards the European Union in the field of climate change, further alignment with European Union policies, are necessary such as objectives 20-20-20 and requirements for monitoring and reporting.