Climate change is happening, with effects visible in the Danube-Carpathian region as in other parts of the world.
The main impact of climate change in the Danube-Carpathian region are not only rising temperatures but climate anomalies, with increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events, including both droughts and flooding. Parts of Southern Hungary, Northern Serbia and Southern Romania are likely to experience desertification. Many areas, especially in Bulgaria, could experience severe water shortages.
Rising temperatures as well as the frequency of extreme weather events are a direct threat to the valuable biodiversity in the region as well as to the precious ecosystem services that they provide.
key challanges
- CEE countries remain less ambitious in terms of climate policies compared to other EU countries. The updated National Energy and Climate Plans even though increased the overall ambition, in many cases it did not reach the overall EU targets.
- The use of forest biomass, especially at household level, remains a major source of particle matter (PM) pollution, also raising concerns over the sustainability of harvesting and its impacts on national forest carbon stocks. High shares of energy poverty are correlated with the high dependency of forest biomass. Supporting the energy transition of vulnerable households requires tailored policy and financial interventions and its success is key for the decarbonisation of CEE countries.
- There is a considerable gap in existing and planned wind energy and solar PV capacity compared to climate neutrality scenarios such as the Paris Agreement Compatible Scenarios. Advancing wind and solar installed capacity in the region, as well as connected infrastructure, namely transmission and distribution networks, will require a holistic planning process that integrates biodiversity and social considerations. The CEE region is home to large numbers of critical species and habitats, including bird migration corridors. As such, efforts to ramp up wind and solar capacities are an opportunity for a comprehensive spatial planning exercise integrating environmental sensitive areas.
- Public perception and concern about climate change in the region is on the rise. The latest EUROBarometer on Climate Change shows that more than three quarters (77%) of EU citizens think climate change is a very serious problem at this moment, while the percentage for CEE countries is only slightly lower. Still, all CEE country citizens consider climate change to be the single most serious problem facing the world as a whole, following armed conflict and poverty.
WHAT HAS BEEN DONE
- Advocating for urgent action to limit climate change to less than an average global temperature rise of 1.5° C by reducing greenhouse gas emissions across key economic sectors. A priority for WWF is lobbying governments from the region to support progressive EU policies on climate change and energy and advance national strategies and financial instruments that support the transition to a decarbonised economy. This happened through the revision of the National Energy and Climate Plans, where our key focus area was the prevention of planned increase of forestry biomass. As a result, the revised plans in Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania plan to rely less on biomass compared to the original plans.
- Replacing primary forest biomass with low-carbon and low-impact renewable energy, energy efficiency and sufficiency through developing policy recommendations and on local level through supporting vulnerable communities by developing and testing methodologies for developing local action plans and actual interventions. See what we have done so far in our LIFE BIO-BALANCE and BioJust projects.
- Advocating for a holistic approach for an integrated spatial planning in the designation of suitable areas for solar and onshore wind energy projects in order to avoid and mitigate biodiversity impacts and maximise community participation and benefit sharing. In the Renewland project, we develop methodology for accelerating area designations, and carry out spatial mapping as best practice in Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania.
Preventing the development of further impactful energy projects, from a greenhouse gas emissions perspective, as well as in order to avoid biodiversity impacts. WWF is monitoring plans for hydroelectric power plants, electricity only generating solid biomass plants as well as solar PV and on-shore wind energy projects that might be placed in sensitive areas. - We are working together with local cities to accelerate climate actions. In the LIFE ASAP project, we support cities in their climate action data reporting and adapt the OPCC Assessment Framework to fit local conditions, and also local community groups, in particular youth, to engage them in the cities’ sustainability efforts.
