The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Bosnia and Herzegovina launched the Climate Action Academy, thematic education for elected officials in the parliaments, assemblies and municipal councils in BiH, with the aim to provide them with more insight into climate issues, especially on the concrete policies and measures for mitigation and adaption to climate change. The Academy will also provide participants with examples of good practices achieved through projects implemented by UNDP with the support of various international and domestic partners in the country.

The first of three Academy modules was held from 15 to 17 September 2023 in Sarajevo. The Academy was opened by Raduška Cupać, Head of the Energy and Environment Sector in UNDP, and Saša Magazinović, Member of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly and Chair of the Green Club of representatives from parliaments at all levels of government in BiH. In their opening remarks, they emphasized the importance of cooperation and joint action on green policies at all levels of government in the country, in order to better prepare and respond to the climate change challenges.

The topic of the first module of the Academy was biodiversity and protected areas. Participants had the opportunity to learn more about adequate measures needed to address the impact of climate change on biodiversity and protected areas in the country, through lectures by experts in this field, including prof. Ph.D. Dragojlo Golub from the Faculty of Science and Mathematics in Banja Luka, Mehmed Cero, Assistant Minister in the Environment Sector of the Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism, as well as guest lecturers, dr. Golda Edwin, Associate Professor in the Department of Environment at Manakula Vinayagar Institute of Technology (MVIT) in Puducherry, India and Executive Director of the Association for Promoting Sustainability in Campuses & Communities (APSCC), who also presented examples of good practice in the world.

Within this module, a visit and tour of the Protected Landscape "Bijambare" was organized, where the participants were hosted by representatives of the Cantonal Public Administration for Protected Areas, as well as Adla Kahrić, an expert in this area on the project "Sustainability of Protected Areas in BiH" (SPA) implemented by UNDP and financed by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). Senka Mutabdžija Bećirović, SPA Project Manager at UNDP, presented its activities and efforts, which in the next three years will work to reduce the impact of emerging climate threats on biological diversity in BiH, by ensuring opportunities for sustainable management and increased financing of protected areas, including through development of sustainable tourism.

The participants emphasized the importance of the Climate Action Academy, which offers them the opportunity to have a stronger impact in this area through their representative and parliamentary activities, in order to help prevent the vulnerability of natural and social processes to climate change.

Through the next two modules that will be held in Trebinje and Tuzla, the focus will be on the topics of energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, energy transition and environmental protection.

The Academy is implemented within the UNDP's project “Capacity Building Initiative for Transparency" (CBIT), which is financed by the GEF, and the organization of the Academy is entrusted to the non-governmental organization Network of Progressive Initiatives (MPI).