On Wednesday, January 28, 2015, the Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests organized one of the important events of the OPERA-CLIMA project, implemented in cooperation with the World Bank: conference dedicated to preparing the operational strategy of Romania and the national action plan on climate change.

The operational strategy and the climate action plan represent two key objectives of the project “Operationalization of the national strategy on climate change and development of the climate component within the 2014-2020 Operational Programs (OPERA-CLIMA)”.

The impact macroeconomic modeling, as well as the evaluation reports which focus on the absorption of the new 2014-2020 EU funds, for projects which are relevant from the climate perspective, are two instruments which consistently support the strategy and the plan. Through the contribution of more than 20 World Bank experts, this macroeconomic model and the aforementioned reports already provide substantial information for the development of the operational strategy and climate action plan of Romania. They were the topic of discussion during the conference.

Moreover, the conference which has organized on January 28 relied on the participation of climate experts from France, Great Britain, alongside the World Bank experts, but also representatives of the most important global scientific body on climate change (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).

The presence of these personalities during the conference which was held in Bucharest provided an excellent opportunity to debate:  why we need a climate strategy and action plan? What must they contain? How should they be prepared, and especially, how should they be implemented?