EUKI Networking Event: Advancing the Green Agenda in the Western Balkans
by Susanne Reiff, GIZ/EUKI
In 2020, the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans set out a path towards achieving climate neutrality by 2050, aligned with the European Green Deal. Five years later, the EUKI Networking Event Western Balkans will bring together around 40 project implementers from seven countries in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) from 7 to 9 October 2025. During the conference, they will review progress, assess achievements, and explore ways to address challenges in implementing the Green Agenda.
In the Western Balkans, climate action is facing increasingly difficult conditions. Climate scepticism is on the rise. The closure of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) threatens the existence of many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the region, depriving them of a vital source of funding. Many of them see spaces for civil society shrinking and competition for limited funds increasing. Measures related to the introduction of the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to encourage cleaner industrial production in non-EU countries are also facing serious challenges. The need for secure and long-term climate financing will therefore be a key topic on the event’s agenda.
The Panel
A panel of high-level representatives from government and administration, including Teodora Obradović Grnčarovska, State Advisor on Climate Change at Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning, Republic of North Macedonia, Agim Mazreku, Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure, Republic of Kosovo, Eneida Rabdishta, Ministry of Tourism and Environment, Republic of Albania will discuss how decarbonisation can be accelerated, which is one of the Green Agenda’s five pillars. The event will be moderated by Ivana Marković Bosković, Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Gallery Walk
A gallery walk will provide a showcase for EUKI projects from across the region: a good opportunity to inspire each other, develop strategies for strengthening climate action in the Western Balkans and exchange ideas on how to tackle shared challenges. According to the EUKI Climate Bridges project, they include funding gaps, a lack of administrative capacities, insufficient transparency in policy-making and implementation, and poor coordination and monitoring.
Strategic partnerships and climate cooperation frameworks will be presented as examples of best practice for replacing one-off project successes with coherent, systemic action, focusing on financing, institutional dialogue, and transformative action on the ground. Regional experts such as Anna Chmielecka, Regional Climate Dialogue advisor at the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, will offer practical insights, data and impact stories.
Climate City Contract (CCC)
Many cities in the Western Balkans have aligned their policies to the Climate City Contract (CCC) framework, a key mechanism in the EU’s NetZeroCities initiative to support cities on their path to climate neutrality by 2030. How they assess the relevance of the CCC framework and the progress they have made so far in implementing their CCCs will conclude the event’s agenda.
The EUKI Networking Event is a great opportunity to review progress in implementing the Green Agenda and offers space for voicing concerns about its future. Around 40 climate experts have so far registered for the event. They’ll be looking for fresh inspiration from fellow professionals: the climate community has already realised that while networking may appear to be less important in the good times, it is essential to work together when budgets are constrained and there is less momentum for climate action. The outcomes of the event will soon be shared on the EUKI website.