Montenegrin Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism announced that Montenegro has updated its nationally determined contribution (NDC) and has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 35 % by 2030.
In early June, the Government of Montenegro adopted the report for the preparation of the updated national determined contribution (NDC) from 2020. The Updated National Determined Contribution (NDC) is a commitment under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) under the Paris Agreement, and is a political commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 35 % by 2030. It contains information on national circumstances, the planning process, assumptions and methodological approaches for which there are realistic opportunities to be implemented.
The NDC emissions scenario predicts a 35 % reduction in emissions compared to the 1990 level of emissions, which is considered a reference. The NDC developed by Montenegro is fair and ambitious because it aims to further reduce national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while meeting the country’s economic development needs, thus enabling a feasible move towards long-term decarbonization. The NDC targets proposed in this report are based on already existing measures, for which there are realistic estimates in terms of implementation. Thus, the derived NDC target was not prepared with the intention of achieving a long-term goal, such as climate neutrality by the middle of the century, but it is recognized that this long-term low-carbon development is needed to support the Paris Agreement and to alignment with ambition under the Green Agreement for the Western Balkans has taken place. It is recommended that Montenegro elaborate a strategy for long-term low-carbon development and analyze how and when climate neutrality can be achieved.
Most of the proposed measures relate to the energy sector, followed by industry and waste.