Croatia Plans for Climate Change

Drier weather patterns are a common effect of climate change in the EU candidate countries and a successful LIFE TCY project has helped Croatian authorities to implement important international climate change protocols. Climate change issues in Croatia include those that relate to risks associated with worsening droughts, and these are predicted to affect many socio-economic and environmental factors. For example, agricultural outputs and the nation's food supplies may be adversely affected, energy production from the country's significant hydro energy systems could be reduced and impacts on biodiversity in natural environments are also predicted, especially in wetlands. Other possible threats include decreased river flows, lower levels of groundwater and reduced access to drinking water supplies. Croatian authorities acknowledge these issues and the Country became a party to the United Nations' Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1996. Croatia is also a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol and is required to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 5% between 2008 and 2012. The current process of transition to a market economy and the lack of adequate institutional, legal, financial, and technical capacities, presents key challenges for the implementation of both the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol in Croatia.