the former Yugoslav Republic of MACEDONIA

The Minister of Environment and Physical Planning, Mr. Nexhati Jakupi, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative, Ms. Ann Marie Ali, ZELS Executive Director, Ms. Dusica Perisic and EVN Chairman of the Management Board, Mr. Georg Waldner, officially opened the workshop for local self governments on the topic of Energy Efficiency in Building Sector.

The main objective of the workshop was to identify the needs of the municipalities for better assessing energy efficiency opportunities, determining the applicable tool that will be produced by the project and determining the needs for training for capacity building of the local governments. The workshop was organized in the frames of UNDP Project “Mitigating Climate Change through Improving Energy Efficiency in the Building Sector”, whose main goals will consist in creating a national database on climate parameters per regions and an inventory of public buildings nationwide. The inventory and the database will be used to calculate the GHG emissions from public buildings, and assessment of the GHG reduction potential by implementation of energy efficiency measures as well as for development of investment oriented energy efficient building programmes.

The project is one of three components of Energy Efficiency programme, financed by the Austrian Development Cooperation, and aims in enabling the environment for mitigating climate change in the country through improved energy efficiency in the building sector and enhanced awareness and capacities of stakeholders involved in energy efficiency issues.

Minister of Environment Jakupi stated that this project will help mitigate one of the greatest problems of the municipalities - efficient use of energy, adding that with this approach, the country will be able to make a contribution to the global efforts of combating climate change. He added that “this project represents continuation of the excellent cooperation between the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Economy, The Association of Local Self-government Units, the Austrian Development Cooperation and UNDP”.

“Improving energy efficiency has proven to be a powerful tool when it comes to extending limited resources and reducing climate change. Increased energy efficiency can reduce investment in energy infrastructure, cut fuel costs and improve citizens’ welfare and is critical to assuring business competitiveness in the long run. Energy efficiency measures are labor intensive and the job creation potential can be fairly significant and cost effective”, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative Ann-Marie Ali stated.

The workshop was also used as an opportunity for signing a Memorandum of Understanding between EVN and UNDP on sharing electricity consumption data for the public buildings.

UNDP Deputy Resident Representative Ann-Marie Ali stated that the signing of the MoU with EVN is an outstanding example of the importance of engaging the private sector in the development process, adding that “achieving synergies between the pubic, private and civil society sectors is vital to advancing the sustainable development agenda of the country”.