The concerns of civil society organizations as well as independent institutional mechanisms for not addressing various environmental challenges in Kosovo have been confirmed again in the European Commission Report for 2023.

In such a situation, Kosovo continues to face a degraded environment, which has a negative impact on both the health of citizens and efforts to preserve biodiversity.

The EC report on Kosovo for the year 2023 emphasizes that Kosovo is in the early stage of preparation in terms of environmental protection and climate change, while in the reporting period it has made limited progress, with the approval in March of the Law on the prevention and control of integrated pollution.

According to the EU, Kosovo should increase political commitment and administrative capacity to address issues related to environmental degradation and climate change, and also to improve the implementation of legislation, in which case these efforts should be in line with the goals of the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans.

The report for this year concluded that last year's recommendations have not been implemented, and that next year Kosovo should focus on: increasing the coverage of waste collection; the application of measures for the reduction, separation, recycling and reuse of waste; effectively addressing the issue of illegal dumps; introduction of circular economy measures for waste reduction, development and approval of inter-municipal integrated management plans for waste; establishment of the extended producer responsibility system; the intensification of work to reduce industrial pollution through the implementation of the law on the prevention and integrated control of pollution; then the harmonization and the beginning of the implementation of the legal provisions on environmental responsibility, damage and crime; implement the “polluter pays” principle and raise public awareness of environmental protection; and implementation of the climate change strategy and climate change action plan; prepare a roadmap for alignment with the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans and the climate acquis; adopt the national energy and climate plan, in accordance with the requirements of the Energy Community, and finalize the design of the long-term de-carbonization strategy and prepare for harmonization with the EU ETS System.

Regarding the environment sector, the Report states that Kosovo should undertake measures to increase the capacities of environmental authorities at the central and local level, implement structural reforms and ensure inter-institutional cooperation. It is also necessary to review and approve strategies, action plans and relevant legislation to ensure consistency with the objectives of the Green Agenda. In this view, it was mentioned how the adoption of the Strategy for the Protection of the Environment and Sustainable Development 2022-2030 has been delayed, while there are challenges to implement the strategic framework due to the lack of allocation of sufficient funds, low administrative and technical capacities and support great to donors.

The report also emphasized that in this field, Kosovo should consult in a meaningful way with the civil society, as well as increase the awareness of the public and the institutions about the importance of environmental protection.

The EU has pointed out that air quality, respectively air pollution, continues to endanger the health of citizens. In waste management, some progress has been made in aligning the legislation with that of the EU, but the instability of the system is an issue that remains to be addressed, together with the strengthening of inspection capacities at the central and local level. According to the report, Kosovo has had limited progress regarding the approximation of water legislation with that of the EU, in which case it must urgently create monitoring systems with data that must be presented to the public. The EU has concluded that there has been no progress at all in terms of nature protection, while there has been some progress in forestry, mainly in planning and management, but that deforestation and illegal cutting of forests remain a matter of concern. There has been limited progress in the approximation of legislation regarding industrial pollution and risk management, while the implementation of legal provisions is slow, thus endangering land, water and health. There has been no progress in chemicals or noise pollution. In the reporting period, Kosovo has not made any progress regarding the assessment of disaster risk needs. Meanwhile, in climate change, the implementation of the strategy and action plan is very limited, while the relevant law has not been approved, and efforts should be made to increase awareness.

The findings of this report underline that Kosovo is still far from meeting the EU criteria in relation to the environment and climate change. The EU promotes strong action in relation to climate change, sustainable development and environmental protection.

Therefore, the engagement of public institutions at all levels should be towards undertaking actions and measures for the protection and preservation of the environment, in order to preserve biodiversity and the health of citizens.

On this occasion, it should be remembered that, among other things, the protection of the environment is one of the values ​​on which the constitutional order of Kosovo is based, therefore the care in this direction should be increased by all shareholders.