The fourth edition of the Green Transition Forum - Green Transition Forum 4.0, opened at 9 a.m. on Wednesday at the Sofia Event Center in the Bulgarian capital. Organizers of the event are Dir.bg and 3E News. The forum is taking place between June 26 and June 28. The Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) is media partner of the event.
Here are key takeaways from the speakers on the first day of the forum:
President Rumen Radev: The debate about the Green Deal, about the green transition behind it, goes far beyond the conversation about climate neutrality, about a green and circular economy, about biodiversity conservation, about investments. The stakes are now much higher. The stakes are our level of ambition at national, regional and European levels. The scope of this conversation is increasing every year, both in terms of participants and topics. This is a conversation about our future, Bulgaria's future, the future of the region of Europe.
Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Lyudmila Petkova: Reforms and investments included in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan have the potential to contribute to the decarbonization of the economy through increased generation and storage of electricity from renewable sources, increased energy efficiency, the construction of sustainable road and rail infrastructure for zero-emission transport, and the development of sustainable agriculture and water resource management. Bulgaria's Recovery and Resilience Plan is one of the greenest in Europe and added that measures to support climate goals account for more than 60% of the total funds allocated under it.
Caretaker Transport Minister Georgi Gvozdeikov: The development of rail transport is very late in Bulgaria but it is doing its best to catch up. Bulgaria has available funding under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan to modernize rail transport. The country has signed a contract for the delivery and production of seven double-decker trains, with the possibility of making them 10. Bulgaria should start thinking about sorting out the freight traffic on the territory of the country. It struck me that a huge amount of traffic clogged Vidin and Ruse. Obviously, Bulgaria is not ready to manage this traffic, but building buffer parking lots inside the country would be a good start.
Caretaker Agricultural Minister Georgi Tahov: The agricultural sector is not up to all the challenges it faces. Farmers and forest owners need to comply with stricter environmental requirements arising from the Green Deal and to make considerable efforts to run their farms in a way that contributes to mitigating the effects of climate change. Farmers should adapt and should be able to address the challenges related to diseases and multiple crises.
Deputy Director-General of the European Commission's Directorate-General Budget Iliyana Tsanova: Looking ahead, no matter what is said about updating the Green Deal, the decarbonization of the European economy will remain a top priority. The objectives of the Green Deal are also valid for security and defence, especially in the field of energy security and for the future competitiveness of the EU. We need to invest in renewables, we need to modernize our electricity transmission system, we need to have much better grid connectivity not only between Member States but also across the region, and that is why we need significant investment. The National Recovery and Resilience Plans of all Member States foresee green transition projects worth around EUR 266 billion, and that EUR 45 billion worth of projects have been implemented to date.
European Investment Bank (EIB) Vice President Kyriacos Kakouris presented different support tools that EIB provides. "We need to minimize global warming while supporting the economy, our strategic self-reliance and supporting the green transition in all regions and communities in Europe, supporting all people," he said.
European Investment Fund (EIF) Deputy Chief Executive Roger Havenith presented EIF's capabilities and tools to support small and medium-sized enterprises in the green transformation and expressed the importance for them to remain competitive.
Charlina Vitcheva, Director-General of the European Commission's DG Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (MARE), said the potential contribution of aquaculture products to both food security and to an improved diet for European citizens was systematically underestimated. Bulgaria is one of the countries where this underestimation is quite strong. The two Black Sea EU Member States, Bulgaria and Romania, account for up to 4% of the total catch in the Black Sea. One of the key changes towards environmental and economic sustainability of marine resources is linked to the diesel price squeeze. The sector's strong dependence on fossil fuels makes it uncompetitive. One of the main changes that should take place is the decarbonization of the sector. Algae are another sector with a great potential for food, food supplements, feed, pharmaceuticals, biostimulants, biofuels and bioplastics.
Mihail Dumitru, Deputy Director General for Agriculture and Rural Development in the EC: High food prices are a problem, making it harder for people to have access to food. There are no problems with food supplies, but production costs are increasing, which is a problem for farmers' profits. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is a very precise policy, but the security of the food chain cannot be guaranteed without sustainability. There is fragmentation of agriculture structures and that the sector is not as competitive as other sectors. For Bulgaria and Romania, the question of uniting the producers is very important, because there are dozens of small producers who cannot be competitive otherwise.
Board Member and CEO of the Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB) Tsanko Arabadzhiev emphasized BDB's commitment to supporting the country's SMEs by offering funding with minimized collateral requirements, a significant challenge in SME financing. He observed that the BDB, having completed an audit, is now certified to manage European funds in the capacity of a partner. "In two weeks, we will sign an agreement with the European Commission on the InvestEU programme, and over the coming years, more than BGN 2.5 billion will be allocated to Bulgarian businesses with guarantees from the Bulgarian Development Bank," he said.
Board Member and CEO of ProCredit Bank Kameliya Mineva presented the bank's sustainable SME policies. She mentioned that mobilizing funds is not a challenge, citing that in the past 12 months alone, they have signed agreements with the European Investment Fund and the European Investment Bank for over BGN 2 billion.
Country Manager of VISA for Bulgaria Krassimira Raycheva noted the corporate initiatives to encourage sustainable consumer behaviour. "Visa is a pioneer and catalyst for change towards a cleaner, more sustainable future, encouraging sustainable end-user behaviour," Raycheva said.
Briseida Gjoza, co-founder of ConsciESG, pointed out that sustainable activity must also generate profit. According to her, not everyone is ready to implement sustainable practices in their operations because for this to happen, these principles need to be incorporated into the core strategy and all procedures of the operation.
Konstantin Delisivkov, Managing Director of Energeo Ltd, a member of the Geotechmin Group, said that the company's mission is to guarantee its customers a bundled service linked to secure low-emission supplies at competitive prices. According to him, businesses need security and competitively priced supply.
John Kerry, former US Secretary of State (2013-2017) and US President's Special Envoy for Climate Action (2021-2024): I hope that enough resources and capital will be mobilized to enable us to make the transition to a clean economy. We know exactly what is going on, the challenge is not ideological, it is not political, we just have to roll up our sleeves and do what is necessary. Without nuclear power, we cannot achieve the desired goals. We need to produce small nuclear reactors as quickly as possible.
Maros Sefcovic, Vice-President of the European Commission (EC) for Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight, said that there is a consensus that Europe needs to be a climate neutral continent by 2050. He noted that "people understand that we need to go in the direction of climate neutrality because we simply must make sure that the planet will be habitable for the generations which would come after us". Sefcovic said that people in Europe realize that the continent is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world and that the number of devastating disasters is multiplying by the year. He added that preventive measures are being taken, but this is not enough, stressing that natural disasters cause loss of life and serious property damage every year. The EC Vice-President was adamant that the direct effect climate change has on households and the industry is evident. He identified droughts and heat waves as major challenges that make crop growth impossible. "I am convinced that by now we know that the future competitiveness of the European economy will not be determined by excelling in the old technologies," he said. Sefcovic noted that it is imperative that Europe excel in battery production, AI, energy storage, and building better and smarter grids to transmit more electricity because "by 2050 we would need to transmit 3.5 times more electricity than today".
Experts discussed the joint efforts of caretaker government, private sector and non-government organizations to advance decarbonization during a session on decarbonization of transport and smart mobility. The debate was attended by Isidro Laso Ballesteros, the Head of the Startup Europe Initiative at the European Commission, Andrey Novakov, the Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from the European People's Party, Emmanouil Fountoukis, the Chairman of the Board of the Automotive Cluster - Bulgaria, Gabriel-Andrei Tecera, the Corporate Governance and Investor Relations Director at Transport Trade Services Bucharest, and Vladislav Atanasov, the task force leader in the Oil and Gas Employers’ Federation.
Isidro Laso Ballesteros noted that Bulgaria, being on the road between Europe and Asia, can become a transport hub. The high-speed railway link will increase investments, so Bulgaria can bring out the benefits of its location, Laso added.
Andrey Novakov joined the online session, pointing out that clean technologies should be phased on at the level of an average household in Europe. Novakov believes that rail transport can meet the criteria for carbon neutrality. He urged Bulgaria to take advantage of its asset, including its geopolitics. The construction of Struma Motorway should be completed, the MEP added.
Emmanouil Fountoukis said that battery production is of major importance in terms of decarbonization. The competition for battery production is with China, he noted.
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