On 26-27 September 2018, the Ministry of Construction and Physical Planning of Croatia organised the international expert conference “Energy Efficiency in buildings - for a better tomorrow” in Zagreb.
The conference was organised within the framework of this year's Presidency of the Central European Initiative (CEI) by the Republic of Croatia, with the priorities of the Croatian Presidency focused on EU enlargement and the transfer of knowledge and experience from the (pre)accession process, economic cooperation, cooperation in the field of culture, migration challenges, intensification of CEI cooperation with other regional and international organisations and continuation of parliamentary cooperation.
The theme of the conference is topical for all of Europe, and energy efficiency is one of the strategic priorities of the European Union. The EU’s objective is independence in terms of energy, as well as slowing down overall climate changes.
The task for all stakeholders and protagonists in the construction sector is to give impetus to active action, using all available potentials, aimed at the adoption of national policies of energy efficiency increase and use of renewable energy sources in the building sector.
CEI-ES representative Elisabetta Dovier highlighted that “buildings are responsible for over one-third of CO2 emissions globally but due to the fragmented nature of the market and the split incentives that exist, it is difficult to be financed at scale. The CEI is looking to finance operations related to policy and regulatory reform in the sector, for scaling up of buildings energy efficiency financing also through buildings energy efficiency legislation and regulations”.