Energy Community

This is common sense: in an energy crisis, we must make use of the infrastructure assets we already have. 👇

The Trans-Balkan Pipeline is only gaining more strategic importance.

This was a major takeaway at the Financial Times Energy Transition Summit in Athens, where regional leaders stressed the corridor’s growing role in both energy security and long-term decarbonisation.

“The main barrier to the Trans-Balkan Pipeline becoming a backbone of energy security is fragmentation,” Energy Community Secretariat Director Artur Lorkowski underscored. “For the corridor to realise its full potential, it must operate as part of an integrated gas market uniting EU Member States and neighbouring Energy Community Contracting Parties along the route under common EU market principles.”

For more on this, see our press release: https://bit.ly/48YoW4n

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To decarbonise successfully, countries need to get the fundamentals right from day one. ⌛

🎯 This week in Armenia, we’re helping lay the groundwork for credible climate action, starting with a deeper understanding of how to monitor, report and verify (MRV) greenhouse gas emissions.

Doing so can support Armenia’s national climate goals and international climate commitments, while also helping align future climate governance with international good practice.

This is why under the project and building on its experience with Contracting Parties such as Moldova, the Energy Community Secretariat is supporting Armenian public institutions in strengthening their technical knowledge and capacity ... as a critical first step in ensuring that future systems are credible, transparent, and fit for purpose.

The training today brought together representatives from the Ministry of Environment and other key institutions that may play a future role in shaping Armenia’s climate governance framework.

Together, they explored the core components of an effective MRV system, including:

• Identifying installations covered by MRV

• The role of a Competent Authority

• Monitoring methodologies and reporting standards

• Verification, accreditation, and compliance cycles

• Enforcement and inspection mechanisms

• How MRV supports carbon pricing and broader climate policy

🗣️ Join the conversation - what do you think is the biggest challenge in building an MRV system from the ground up?

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EU4ClimateResilience is co-financed by the European Union and The German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN) and is jointly implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and OECD - OCDE.

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As Serbia doubles down on EU energy market integration, the transition can increase its long-term security 👇

On Monday, Energy Community Secretariat Director Artur Lorkowski visited Serbia’s Parliament to discuss reform progress toward integration with the EU’s energy markets. During the meeting, he stressed that energy market reforms must go hand in hand with a credible green transition, especially as the energy crisis underscores the importance of both market integration and homegrown energy for supply and price stability.

🗣️ “Market integration and the green transition must move forward together,” Lorkowski underscored. “As Serbia moves closer to the EU energy market, establishing a credible decarbonisation pathway will determine market competitiveness and energy security.”

🏃‍➡️ As Serbia makes strong advances toward EU market coupling, the energy transition is becoming an even greater strategic imperative. Integration will ultimately mean operating within an increasingly decarbonised regulatory framework, making early decarbonisation both economically and strategically advantageous ahead of accession.

💪 At the same time, domestically produced renewable energy is becoming more central to Europe’s long-term energy security objectives.

In this sense, a credible climate governance framework can attract green investment and climate finance. Serbia has already advanced in two key areas that can support effective climate policies while gradually increasing the cost of carbon-intensive activities: establishing a carbon tax and systems for monitoring, reporting and verification of emissions. However, the success of the transition will depend heavily on Serbia’s ability to define a credible and implementable emissions reduction pathway, supported by clear policy measures, investment planning, and timely delivery.

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