Belgrade, 20 May 2022. – The fifth and final event in a series of dialogues on environment in Serbia was held today at the “Jevremovac” Botanical Garden, within the country’s preparations for the “Stockholm+50” conference. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) organized the national consultations with support from the Government of Sweden and in partnership with the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

The closing event within national consultations was opened by the Minister of Environmental Protection Irena Vujović, alongside Swedish ambassador to Serbia H.E. Annika Ben David and the UNDP resident representative in Serbia Francine Pickup. Minister Vujović thanked everybody who answered the Ministry’s invitation to contribute to the consultations.

“The consultations were a good opportunity to use the dialogue between various stakeholders to reach joint conclusions, highlight most important environmental issues and offer recommendations on how to address them. We heard the voices of all participants in open dialogue, and these will be considered when creating national environmental policies and plans. I am especially happy that the youth showed a great deal of interest in the consultations and that they are motivated to take part in finding solutions for challenges in this area,” Irena Vujović, Minister of Environmental protection said, and added: “Serbia made Important headway in addressing environmental issues, as well as in harmonisation its legislation with the EU, resulting in opening Cluster 4 which includes Chapter 27 – Environment and Climate Change.

The most important recommendations on what Serbia should do to reduce environmental pollution, preserve biodiversity and adequately tackle climate change challenges were presented by various stakeholders during today’s event. These recommendations, collected during a series of dialogues, will be incorporated in a National Report that the Serbian delegation will present at the Stockholm conference in less than two weeks.

“By organising the Stockholm+50 global conference that will take place in Stockholm on 2 and 3 June, the Swedish Government intends to mobilise global and local environmental action for our planet and our future! Serbia was chosen to be a country hosting consultative dialogues during the preparations for the Stockholm+50 conference.  Thank you all for your active participation and I do hope we will continue with constructive dialogue and engagement,” H.E. Annika Ben David, Swedish ambassador to Serbia, said.

“Thanks to support of Sweden and to partnership with the Ministry of Environmental Protection, we were able to gather more than 500 representatives of national and local institutions, civil society, private sector, academia and youth. This confirmed to us that there is a strong interest in Serbia to help preserve the environment and grapple with climate change. I believe that recommendations from national consultations participants will help Serbia find a path towards sustainable and green future, for the benefit of its economy and citizens,” Francine Pickup, UNDP Serbia Resident Representative, said. 

Two panel discussions on the importance of bees and the necessity of protecting them, attended by representatives of academia and the civil sector, were held today in cooperation with ‘Ekonaut’ association on the occasion of World Bee Day (20 May) and International Day for Biological Diversity (22 May). A workshop on the world of bees was also held for the children and the youth.

Five national dialogues were held from 13 April until the present. The topics that were discussed follow: protecting biodiversity, climate change, green transformation in agriculture, the link between the environment and public health, the role of the youth in protecting the environment.

Thanks to the SparkBlue online platform, all interested parties could actively join the process to follow the course of the dialogue and achieved results and give their own recommendations for improving the environment in Serbia.

The ‘Stockholm+50 conference: healthy planet for the prosperity of all – our responsibility, our opportunity’, will be held on 2 and 3 June 2022 in the capital of Sweden. In addition to marking the 50th anniversary of the first United Nations conference on the environment, the goal of this international meeting is to accelerate the implementation of activities contributing to achieving global Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement on climate change, as well as the ‘green’ recovery from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Supported by the Swedish Government, UNDP organised a series of national consultations in 59 countries around the world, including Serbia.