How Bulgaria is fighting climate change
This article presents part of the desk study that our Cluster's member the Knowledge, Innovation and Strategies Management Club (KISMC) did in preparation of the second intellectual product of the Collective Innovation to Fight Climate Change (FCC project).
Since the results of this project is related to the work the cluster already did in this area (look at this article) we share it here. The article provides very brief and basic information on how Bulgarian government fight with climate change.
Specific legal framework
Bulgaria has an emerging market economy in the upper middle-income range where the private sector accounts for more than 80 per cent of GDP.
It is exposed to nearly all types of climate extremes, including floods, droughts, and others, as well as earthquakes. Climate-related risks are expected to increase due to the changing climate in the next decades.
The Kyoto Protocol was ratified by the Bulgarian Parliament on July 17, 2002. According to Annex B of KP the quantified emission reduction commitment of Bulgaria for the first commitment period (2008-2012) was 92.0 % of the base year (1988) emissions.
Bulgaria prepares National action plans on climate change (NAPCC) according to the requirements of European legislation, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol having a role to play in effectively implementing the Paris Agreement and is obliged to elaborate regular reports (National Communications) on the performance. The National Communications are elaborated for the Ministry of Environment and Water by the Energy Institute on a contractual basis and under coordination by the Inter-ministerial Committee on Climate Change supported by independent organizations and experts in cooperation with the competent institutions - the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology and Energy Efficiency Agency. They represent a further step in elaborating and implementing the national climate change policy and the new international commitments.
Under the Kyoto Protocol requirements, the country set up National Greenhouse Gas Inventory System that produces data and background information on emissions and removals for the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol and the EU Commission. In addition, the scope of the system covers the archiving of the data used in emission estimations, the publishing of the results, participation in inventory reviews and the quality management of the inventory.
So, there is a huge number of national strategies, plans and official documents that are directly or indirectly related to FCC issue, what is often a serious problem and creates difficulties to be followed and updated over time. Such, for example, are the National Development Programme, Energy Strategy of the Republic of Bulgaria until 2020, National Energy Efficiency Action Plan 2014-2020, national Action Plan for Renewable Energy, National Program for Promotion of the Biofuels Use in the Transport Sector 2008-2020, Integrated Transport Strategy for the period until 2030, National Strategy and Plan for Development of the Forestry Sector until 2023, National Strategic Plan for management of building demolition waste 2011-2020, National Strategic Plan for management of the sludge from urban wastewater treatment plants 2014-2020, National waste prevention program (NWPP) 2014 – 2020, National Waste Management Plan (NWMP) 2014 – 2020, National Regional Development Strategy, etc.
Main instruments and measures to fight against climate change
Regardless of the large amount and variety of instructions and documents constituting the legal framework for government work, its main instruments that are of interest to this report are
Additionally, a very useful information in the context of climate change can be found in the documents:
- Financial Disaster Risk Management and Insurance Options for Climate Change Adaptation in Bulgaria - to raise awareness and emphasize the role that financial disaster risk management (FDRM), including insurance, can have in climate change adaptation.
- National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan - the aim of this strategy is to serve as a reference document, setting a framework for climate change adaptation action and priority directions up to 2030. It was approved by Council of Ministers by Decision № 621/25.10.2019.
The sectors the measures are mainly focused on
The government's policy in Bulgaria to fight climate change consists of developing and implementing measures that have a direct positive impact (mainly on saved GHG emissions) on the following industrial sectors:
- Energy sector
- Household and services sector
- Industry sector
- Waste sector
- Agriculture
- Land use, land use change and forestry sector (LLUCF)
- Transport sector
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