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A Changing Climate in Croatia
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Zagreb, Croatia, June 2009-More than 10 million tourists flock to Croatia each year, tourists who may not realize they are visiting an endangered land. Global climate change threatens to permanently alter Croatia’s scenic destinations, especially its coast. To lessen the potential damage, the Croatian government has launched an ambitious programme to cut national energy consumption. The programme includes lowering Croatia’s carbon footprint, saving more than $1.3 billion, and preserving the landscape. Video: Educational Cartoons on Saving Energy "Now is the time, now is the moment, now is the task and now is the challenge we have to, and I repeat —we have to— face,” Croatian President Stjepan Mesić said, stressing the urgency of addressing global warming at an event organized by the United Nations Development Programme. According to the UNDP, changing environmental conditions in Croatia could lead to submerged beaches, rising rivers and lakes and killer heat waves. Climate models also show Croatia will be hotter and drier within three decades. At the current rate of change, summers will be between 3 and 3.5 degrees warmer in Croatia starting in 2040. The Neretva Delta, home to one of the few remaining wetlands in Europe, is also threatened. The Croatian government hopes its innovative programmes will mitigate the impact of those potential changes. Buildings, which consume 41 percent of national energy, are a major focus of the initiative. Cities and counties have pledged to cut energy consumption in the nation’s 10,000 public buildings as much as possible. So far, more than half of all cities and counties in Croatia have conducted energy audits in their municipal buildings, including in offices, schools and hospitals. Decisions have been made to retrofit, install new boiler systems, and switch to renewable energy sources to curb the carbon footprint. The UNDP, Global Environment Facility, Croatian Fund for Environment Protection and Energy Efficiency, Government of Croatia, and other partners of the project are also reaching out to the public with information and resources for individuals so that they may reduce their own carbon footprints. Forty-four “energy efficiency centers” and a free energy efficiency phone information hotline have been established to advise home owners on how to cut energy costs, and protect the environment. The effort is bolstered by an expansive media campaign aimed at inspiring residents to go green by switching to more efficient heating systems, home appliances, etc. The cumulative impact of increased education and greener consumer choices can reduce individual greenhouse gases by one ton per person per year, according to UNDP. The green movement also has the potential to create new jobs in retrofitting and other green industries for Croatia’s 4.4 million people. "World leaders have a choice to make as they prepare to gather in Copenhagen this December," UNDP Administrator Helen Clark said in a statement on World Environment Day, June 5. "They can either seal a deal which leads to less carbon-intensive production and consumption, helps reignite global economic growth, creates jobs; and sets the world’s poorer countries on a sustainable path out of poverty; or business as usual continues, threatening the future of the planet and its people." Report: “A Climate for Change” - UNDP Croatia 2008 Human Development Report: Climate change and its impacts on society http://www.undp.hr/show.jsp?page=103395. Recent Articles
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