Activities

In the frame of the public education campaign on energy efficiency and performance in our country, EcoAlbania organized on July 9^th, 2018 the meeting “Policies for Energy Efficiency and Performance in Albania” with young people from the Democratic Party Youth Forum (FRPD). As part of a series of meetings, this was the second meeting with youth from political parties forums, where representatives of the Environmental Vigilance Network’s organizations and the environmental policy expert shared specific information regarding energy issues.

Meanwhile, Mr. Erjon Tase directed the youngsters to a discussion about the perspective of sustainable development, energy efficiency, and conditions that Albania should fulfill for joining the European family. He focused on existing legislation for energy efficiency and performance in buildings, while explaining the importance for accelerating adoption of amendments. “The energy efficiency law stipulates that payment for the energy efficiency certificate must be carried out by the builder. Don’t you think it is an additional expense for the builder? “- asked one of the participants. “This certificate is a guaranty for the consumer and also determines the apartment’s price. Therefore, being provided with the certificate is for the benefit of builders,” said Mr. Tase.

The Democratic Party’s 2017 electoral program was brought to the attention of FRPD youth by discussing with them the possibility for its improvement in the upcoming elections, as well as the inclusion of a larger number of issues addressing both energy and environment. “None of the political parties has had an actual program dedicated to energy and environmental issues in the 2017 elections,” explained Mr. Tase.

At the end of their discussion, the FRPD youth brought some recommendations which could be presented to central government’s representatives for improving energy policies. “I see an immediate need for Albania to reduce bureaucracies for investments in solar and wind energy, and increase incentives for investors in these areas,” said one of the participants. They suggested setting up a group that could submit these requests to the relevant parliamentary committees.

This activity was organized by EcoAlbania within the framework of the “Together – an eye for the environment” project and is financially supported from the Swedish Embassy on behalf of the SENiOR-II program implemented by Regional Environmental Centre – REC Albania.