SARAJEVO, August 19 (FENA) – The Green Club, which consists of parliamentarians at all levels of government in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Sarajevo Film Festival (SFF) with the partnership and support of UNDP and GIZ are organizing an international conference today and tomorrow titled “Green parliamentary groups and the decarbonization process in the Western Balkans”.

The conference is an opportunity, in light of the SFF as one of the largest cultural events in the region and with the presence, among others, of members of parliament and green parliamentary groups from Montenegro, Serbia, North Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, to hold talks about the topics of decarbonization, energy transition and urban mobility, as well as the consequences caused by climate change and the need to raise awareness about the necessity of environmental protection.

The two-day conference, which is held in the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is the result of a partnership between the Green Club and the Sarajevo Film Festival, which, in cooperation with UNDP, have been conducting joint activities before and during the Festival for the second year in a row.

An MP in the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament and president of the Green Club Saša Magazinović said at the press conference that “today’s event is the result of a long-term partnership between the Green Club and the SFF”.

“The SFF’s determination to become a carbon-neutral festival is certainly something that merited our attention and the need to contribute through joint activities not only to the achievement of that goal but also to raising awareness of the responsibility of institutions and each individual for our common future and the future of the planet,” said Magazinović.

Resident Coordinator of the UN in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ingrid McDonald, expressed satisfaction that she could once again speak with parliamentarians and the Green Club “in an attempt to raise awareness of something, which UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutierrez called a vital crisis of all humanity”.

“It is a triple global crisis that we are currently going through and all of us here are feeling the consequences of it. The UN has long been a partner with the Green Club and SFF. We also keep in mind that Sarajevo is a UNESCO city of film and we are proud that SFF is part of all these efforts,” said Mc Donald.

The Ambassador of Germany in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Thomas Fitschen, is delighted with the fact that the Green Group and the SFF have joined forces to hold a two-day conference where the issues of adaptation to climate change and green transformation will be discussed.

The SFF director Jovan Marjanović emphasized that the Festival has a multiplying effect and that it can be used for much larger and more significant projects.

He added that the SFF is one of the largest festivals in all of Europe and as such an event must lead in some important topics of today, namely environmental protection and climate change.