2022-04-14

Public debate: To What Extent Does Energy Saving Contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals

SDGs for All Platform

The Center for Democracy Foundation organised a public debate: To What Extent Does Energy Saving Contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals, on 14 April 2022, as part of the SDGs for ALL Platform’s thematic group on poverty.

The starting point for the debate was the Energy Poverty analysis, drafted by Prof. Ksenija Petovar, PhD, which proposes future actions to be taken within this domain.

Among the participants there were Siniša Trkulja (Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure - Sector for Spatial and Urban Planning), Lidija Radulović (programme coordinator, Foundation BFPE for a Responsible Society), Aleksandar Macura (RES Foundation), Bojan Ivković (Energy Manager, Town of Pirot), Aleksandar Kovačević (Energy Expert), Prof. Ksenija Petovar, PhD (Center for Democracy Foundation), Ivona Gvozdenović (Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation), Nataša Vučković (Center for Democracy Foundation), Maja Petković (Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure), Nada Lazić (Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue) and others.

The purpose of the debate was to initiate a broad dialogue on energy poverty and discuss ways how to tackle this phenomenon and protect most vulnerable consumers .

One of the key conclusions was that energy saving is in the public interest and contributes directly to achieving multiple SDGs, in particular poverty reduction, improving public health, quality education, gender equality, energy availability, reducing inequality, sustainable cities and communities, responsible production and consumption, and strong institutions..

The issue of energy poverty, due to its multidisciplinary nature, necessitates a multidisciplinary approach that requires incorporation of energy efficiency principles accross the public policy landscape in Serbia.

The analysis offers a set of recommendations and proposed interventions to be presented to the decision-makers, in order to improve the overall response to energy poverty in Serbia and engage those who are most vulnerable in the energy transition process.

The debate was part of the Thematic Group on poverty established within the SDGs for All Platform.

The “SDGs for All” Platform enables a broad discussion among the Serbia’s non-state actors, including civil society, corporate sector, academic and research community, media and the citizens, on aligning Serbia’s development priorities within the objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The “SDGs for All” Platform is supported by the Governments of Switzerland and Germany and implemented by GIZ, within the project “Public Finance Reform – 2030 Agenda”.

Download: Energy Poverty analysis