The Slovak Environment Ministry on Monday presented a climate law, which for the first time formally enshrines in legislation the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
The law also sets medium-term emissions reduction goals at the state, regional, city, or company level.
“This is the first climate law in our history. For the first time, we will learn how to adapt the country to the challenges of the 21st century,” said Environment Minister Jan Budaj.
The proposal gives citizens the opportunity to file climate lawsuits against the state if it fails to meet its climate targets. The law also provides for the establishment of a climate council, which will have the authority to monitor individual ministries in implementing climate plans and, if necessary, impose sanctions on them.
“Most climate policies are not created in our ministry. The aim of this law is to influence other ministries and somehow voluntarily motivate them to achieve their sectoral targets,” said Milan Zavara of the Environment Ministry.
NGOs welcomed the law because it could “improve climate protection in Slovakia”. However, they have several reservations about it, especially the fact that the emission reduction targets are not sufficient.
“We have strong concerns that the decarbonisation targets for individual sectors are not sufficient,” said Dana Maricova of the Climate Alliance. “It is not clear to us how analysts have calculated these targets, and in this respect we consider them to be a low ambition.”
However, NGO representatives also said that sectoral targets and commitments only relate to those areas that fall outside the EU’s emissions trading system – i.e. road transport, buildings or agriculture.
For energy and heavy industry, the sectors with the largest emissions, the proposal only sets a general target of reducing emissions by 62% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels.
The draft law will be open for comments by relevant stakeholders, state institutions and local authorities. The final version of the legislation must then be approved by the government and then by parliament.
(Barbara Zmoshkova | EURACTIV.sk)
