Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP) of the City of Bijeljina
Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP) is the key document which shows how signatories of the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy will fulfil their obligations set for 2030. This action plan must include the following key elements:
- Assessment of the situation regarding greenhouse gas emissions in the entire territory of the local community in the selected baseline year 3, which are quantified by the Baseline Emissions Inventory (BEI);
- Assessment of current risk and vulnerability of the local community to climate change, and its capacities to adapt to the climate change (Risk and Vulnerability Assessment – RVA);
- Long term vision and goals to 2030, which are implementable on the local level, in order to mitigate climate change, or to decrease greenhouse gas emissions (Climate Change Mitigation) and to adapt the local community to the existing climate change (Climate Change Adaptation);
- Measures by local community to mitigate climate change which will achieve the set goal of decrease of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030;
- Measures by local community in adapting to climate change which will achieve the set goal of strengthening the capacity of local community to adapt its most vulnerable social and economic sectors to the most serious risks of climate change by 2030; and
- Institutional, organisational, financial and control mechanisms for implementation of planned measures and monitoring achieved results.
Joining this initiative means joining an active community of cities and municipalities which have committed themselves to the continuous improvement of the living conditions of their citizens and dedicated work on the implementation of the vision of decarbonisation of their territories, adaptation to climate changes and ensuring sustainable and safe energy available to all inhabitants.
The City of Bijeljina entered the Covenant of Mayors in 2011, when the Sustainable Development Action Plan (SDAP) of the Municipality of Bijeljina was created. At the end of 2018, the City Administration participated in the public call for the preparation of Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP) in local self-government units (LSUs). This call was published as part of a project implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Bosnia and Herzegovina entitled Increasing Investment in Low-Carbon Public Buildings in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with financial support from the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The application submitted by the City of Bijeljina was approved, so technical and financial support for the preparation of this action plan was ensured. The next important step in confirming commitment to principles and practice of sustainable energy development and adapting to climate change of the City of Bijeljina was taken on 30 October 2019, when the City Assembly adopted a decision to enter the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy and to prepare the Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan.