Upon invitation by the United Nations, Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Physical Planning, Civil Engineering and Ecology, Srebrenka Golić, is participating at the United Nations Framework Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) Ministerial Session taking place in Bonn, Federal Republic of Germany. Madam Minister Golić is heading the BiH Delegation given the fact that the Ministry of Physical Planning, Civil Engineering and Ecology has been responsible for implementation of the United Nations Framework Climate Change Convention on behalf of BiH.
A new meeting at ministerial level was held in Bonn in order to secure the governments’ support for the new universal agreement on climate change, which is expected to be adopted in Paris at the end of this year. Ministers and representatives of over 200 countries parties to the United Nations are participating at the session, and one of the objectives of the Conference is securing global policy in fighting climate change.
At today’s activities (9th June 2015) within the Session, the BiH Delegation met with the representatives of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Secretariat and their executive director, Mrs Hela Cheikhrouhou, in order to allow for the procedure and policy of the GCF to allocate grant funds for BiH for the climate change mitigation and adaptation projects. Madam Minister Srebrenka Golić informed the representatives of the GCF on activities that the Ministry, as the BiH authority responsible for climate change, has fulfilled: “BiH has developed two National Reports on climate change until now, and development of the third National Report is in progress, as well as the Action Plan. The Green Climate Fund representatives were particularly glad to hear about the fact that we developed and adopted the Low Carbon Development Strategy.” It was agreed at today’s meeting that BiH would develop Readiness Programme within the next seven days. Value of the Readiness Programme is USD 400,000 for strengthening capacities of the BiH institutions within the scope of climate change mitigation. Bilateral meetings between the Minister and the GCF representatives are to continue over the period of the next few months in order to acquire grant funds for BiH.
The BiH Delegation, during the first day of the Conference, met with the European Commission Delegation – International and Inter-Sectoral Cooperation Unit. The European Commission Delegation was headed by Dimitrios Zevgolis. At the meeting there was exchange of experiences regarding the new document that should be adopted at the end of the year in Paris, on possible projects in BiH, that would possibly be financed by the European Union, from the scope of the environment and climate change in particular.
During their visit in Bonn, the Delegation will also talk to the Green Climate Fund Delegation and they will visit associations in Dortmund that gather citizens temporarily working in the Federal Republic of Germany.