Country Partnership Austria-Montenegro
Environment Agency Austria assists with upgrade of national emissions inventory and development of upgraded integrated tool
Montenegro is preparing for EU accession and is therefore updating its 10-year-old air emissions inventory. In this, the EU candidate country is getting support from the experts of the Umweltbundesamt, the Environment Agency Austria. The aim is to adapt the Montenegrin air emissions inventory to European standards and expand it in such a way that national pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions can be calculated in a single system. The inventory will be fundamentally revised, by including previously missing sources in the Excel-based inventory template and processing data since 1990 in a consistent manner. This will provide the basis for Montenegro to fulfil its international reporting obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (National Inventory Report, NIR) and the Convention on long-range transboundary air pollution (CLRTAP) for the period required. Apart from technical support, the capacities of the Environmental Protection Agency of Montenegro (EPA Montenegro), the responsible institution for the inventory, will be strengthened. Experts of the Environment Agency Austria will provide their expertise and experience in managing and reporting pollutant and greenhouse gas inventory data to the Montenegrin Agency.
A kick-off conference for the cooperation project of the Environment Agency Austria and EPA Montenegro is taking place on 14 September 2021, both in Podgorica and online. The project, in which experts of the German Environment Agency are also involved, is a Twinning Light project financed through EU funds (Instrument for Preaccession Assistance, IPA).
Twinning: boundless environmental commitment
Following the principle of country partnerships, the Environment Agency Austria assists new and future EU Member States with capacity building and the development of national legislation according to EU standards through so-called Twinning projects. Twinning Light projects are designed to offer a more flexible, mid-term approach (up to 6-8 months) than Twinning projects which have a duration of 12 months up to 36 months. The aim of environmental Twinning projects is to transpose EU legislation into national laws, build up the necessary administrative structures and introduce new procedures in administrative practices. Twinning projects are also aimed at supporting EU Member States during the first few years after their accession.
Since 1998, the Environment Agency Austria has participated in more than 120 Twinning projects in over 27 countries. The Austrian expert institution's know-how is in high demand - especially in the areas of climate, circular economy, biodiversity and zero pollution.
