Unboxing the Western Balkans Green Agenda and the opportunities it offers for North Macedonia reveals huge potential to provide the necessary finance for fitting the costly green transition with the tightened public budget. However, the implementation is extremely complex as much as challenging, requires close cooperation among WB countries for green and digital transition of the region while boosting circular economy and biodiversity, and fast response to the ambitious EU Green Deal requirements.
To be able to efficiently use this potential, the existing governance structure in North Macedonia should be modified by appointing one institution to take the lead and ownership of the Western Balkans Green Agenda implementation process and to bring its complex structure closer to all national stakeholders. This is time consuming process and required strong institution with appropriate, dedicated and knowledgeable personnel. Otherwise, uncoordinated actions of the institutions and the absence of active management of the processes may affect the total value of the approved projects, increase costs for loan agreements and hinder efficient monitoring and risk management of these public investments.
Read more about WB Green Agenda and the opportunities for North Macedonia in this policy brief:
The Green Agenda for the Western Balkans: Opportunities for North Macedonia