Minister Oliver Dulić Gave a Lecture in Strasburg

Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning Mr Oliver Dulić participated today in the work of the 4^th Summer University for Democracy organized by the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, where he gave a lecture titled ''Political Priorities, Natural and Technological Challenges Caused by the Lack of Natural and Energy Resources.''

While speaking about climate change and the effects of these changes on food, drinking water and energy resources, Dulić stressed that the economic crisis could be a unique opportunity for a fundamental restructuring of the economy by encouraging the development of a "green energy" which will instigate the development and opening of new jobs.

- The Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning has recognized a general lack of concern regarding the environment and environmental issues among the citizens of Serbia. Nearly 40 percent of the waste generated in the Serbian households ends up dumped at wild landfills. According to the latest reports there are approximately 4,481 such landfills in Serbia. About 1.24 million tons of waste is disposed of annually at 164 officially registered landfills. Unfortunately, in most cases, this solution is by no means the best solution. However, this situation is not much better when it comes to industrial waste where the toxic waste represents a special problem - said Minister Dulić, adding that the solution to these problems lies in joint action undertaken by the government, the industry and the public.

The Minister stressed that significant savings, opening of new jobs and development of "green industry" can only be achieved by proper waste disposal in the containers intended for this purpose or at the registered landfills in order to instigate separation of waste and recycling because "waste is not only waste, it is a resource". He reminded that the Ministry has therefore initiated a massive campaign, "Let's Clean up Serbia", the essential goals of which are to clean up all wild and illegal landfills, solve the issue of hazardous waste and improve the waste management system.

In addition, as the important goal of the campaign "Let's Clean Up Serbia" Minister Dulić mentioned the strengthening of the "green" industry's capacities and raising the public awareness on the importance of environmental protection. He said that in many countries waste is not considered as a resource and that in Serbia only 5% of waste is being recycled annually while in the countries of European Union this percentage is significantly higher - between 60% and 90%.

According to Minister Dulić, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) started an initiative to promote "green economy" through increasing investments in areas such as clean energy resources and waste and chemicals management. As the first step towards "green economy", UNEP called for a "Global Green New Deal". The basic idea is that ecological standards should be promoted through trade and market approach, especially in developing and transitional countries. 

- The Republic of Serbia recognizes the leading role of developed countries in the implementation of current and new policies on climate change. We also believe that developing countries should take adequate steps to mitigate the consequences of global warming. In 2006 our country initiated talks with the countries in the South East European Region in order to come up with models for cooperation regarding the issue of climate change. The outcome of this effort was the Belgrade Initiative of Climate Change, adopted at the 6^th Ministerial Conference "Environment for Europe" which took place in 2007 in Belgrade - Minister Dulić concluded.

Minister Oliver Dulić will also participate tomorrow in the in the work of the 4^th Summer University for Democracy.