On July 2023 Supernatural was hired by UNDP Serbia in assessing corporate carbon footprint of the companies in Serbia and the EU.

Overview:
With the increased concerns about global challenges like climate change, air pollutions, biodiversity and increased inequalities, the importance of sustainable economic growth becomes top priority for both public and private sector.

The inflow of FDIs to Serbian economy is constantly increasing in the past decade. The amount of FDIs has increased almost 4 times since 2012 to reach a record high 3,86 billion euros in 2021. With the rise in FDIs there has been also increased concern on how investments affect the local environment, especially since Serbia is striving to adopt very demanding EU standards on green economy and environmental protection. The European Climate law is focused on implementing the goal set out in the European Green Deal for Europe’s economy and society to become climate-neutral by 2050. The law also sets the intermediate target of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. Climate neutrality by 2050 means achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions for EU countries, mainly by cutting emissions, investing in green technologies and protecting the natural environment. Meanwhile, EU Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence puts legal requirements on all companies from EU markets to assess the economic, social and environmental impact of not only their business operations, but of their entire supply chains, regardless of the suppliers’ country of origin. This will force many companies operating not only in EU, but also in third markets like Serbia, to re-define their value chains, focusing mainly on reductions of their corporate carbon footprint, i.e. the impact their business activities have on the environment and GHG emissions. Also, Serbia adopted Law on Climate Change in 2021 which sets the legal basis for the introduction of GHG emission permits. The Government is currently elaborating a by-law which will in details prescribe obligations of companies (both public and private) to monitor, report and verify their GHG emissions and apply for the GHG emission permit. The idea is to motivate companies to reduce their GHG emissions and, in the future perspective, create enabling environment for the carbon tax and/or carbon trading system in Serbia, in line with the EU regulatory framework (e.g. the EU Emission Trading Scheme Directive).

The specific responsibilities included:

1.         Drafting a Report on Carbon Management which shall include:

•          Overview of the EU and Serbian policy and practical trends in terms of environmental corporate sustainability with focus on carbon footprint and management

•          Carbon Management activities presented through simplified descriptions: goal, project activity selection, reduction procedures etc.

•          Description of the calculation of the carbon footprint described through 5 phases of the product life cycle (importance of each stage in carbon footprint, sources of emissions, allocation, explanation of the calculation formula, legal requirements).

•          Examples of best EU practices in carbon footprint assessment and management, with examples of best practices in business activities and in supply chain /direct and indirect CCF/.

•          Examples of success stories of international or domestic companies operating in Serbia (industry related) in managing and offsetting their carbon footprint.

The result was a 40 page document analyzing EU and Serbian environmental legal framework, best practices in carbon management in EU and Serbia with recommendation of next steps in raising the capacity and preparing the business community of Serbia to adopt to requirements and regulations in carbon management.