![Natasa Kovacevic Natasa Kovacevic](https://bankwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Natasa-Kovacevic.jpg)
Heating sector decarbonisation campaigner for the Western Balkans
Email:Tel.:
More from Natasa Kovacevic
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s energy utility Elektroprivreda BiH are signing today an agreement formalizing the Bank’s commitment to consider financial support for a particularly questionable energy project in Tuzla. But the public is barely aware of what this risky investment could bring to local communities.
With the energy transition well underway, and the end of the era of coal clearly on the horizon, biomass for heating is gradually becoming a favorite for governments in the Western Balkans and their financial partners. ‘Tree power’ might sound like the greenest kind of energy, but burning timber from forests to heat homes is anything but sustainable.
In the Western Balkans, heating based on fossil fuels is making air pollution worse and is also the source of half of greenhouse gas emissions. Sustainable and affordable heating systems based on renewables are no fantasy. They operate successfully in other parts of Europe, and can be implemented in the Western Balkans if decision makers start acting now.
When it comes to tackling the climate crisis, everyone knows we need more electricity from wind and solar. But despite their massive potential to help cut emissions and curb air pollution, heat pumps have not received the same attention.