THE EFFECTS OF ENERGY CONSUMPTION ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN SERBIA IN THE CONTEXT OF THE EU GREEN AGENDA FOR WESTERN BALKANS

Green agenda of the European union, family business and artifical intelligence – political and social aspects : thematic journal of papers. Book 1 (2025) (књига 1, 85-97. стр.) 

 

АУТОР(И) / AUTHOR(S): Lidija Madžar

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DOI: 10.46793/87143.26.5.085M

САЖЕТАК / ABSTRACT:

Energy consumption is an indispensable part of our modern life, which enables the operations of industry, technological development, improvement of the life quality and the functioning of the whole economy. However, it also brings a number of crucial environmental risks such as land, water and air pollution, global warming, endangering biodiversity, desertification, dependence on non-renewable energy sources and GHG emissions. In Serbia, environmental protection faces its many challenges, such as significant groundwater pollution, the emergence of illegal landfills, the collapse of natural ecosystems, and the depletion and degradation of natural resources, which is contrary to the fundamental principles of the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of economic development measured by GDP per capita and total energy consumption on the environmental sustainability of the country expressed by CO2 emissions per capita in the period from 2006 to 2023. The application of the OLS regression analysis indicated that economic growth is environmentally sustainable, most likely due to improved technological capacities and the modernization of the industrial base of the Serbian economy, while energy consumption is ecologically unsustainable, since along with its growth there is an increase in harmful CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. The paper concludes that the energy transition should be improved, as is also the case with the use of renewable energy sources in the country’s energy mix on its way to a better, cleaner, fairer and more environmentally sustainable society.

КЉУЧНЕ РЕЧИ / KEYWORDS:

energy consumption, Green Agenda for the Western Balkans, economic development, OLS regression, environmental unsustainability, GHG emissions, CO2 emissions.

ПРОЈЕКАТ / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

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