“For us, adaptation measures to climate change in the urban environment are very important, as they will help us reduce our vulnerability to disasters - to save human lives, to protect the infrastructure in populated areas, to preserve the rich biological diversity of the Bulgarian nature”. Thus the Minister of Environment and Water Rositsa Karamfilova welcomed the participants at the National Conference “Implementation of Innovative Measures for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in the Municipalities in Bulgaria”, which is organized by the National Trust EcoFund.

The first large-scale project implementing measures from the National Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change in the field of urban planning was presented to a wide range of stakeholders. For a year and a half, eight municipalities in Bulgaria - Burgas, Varna, Kardzhali, Plovdiv, Ruse, Sliven, Sofia, and Stara Zagora, in partnership with the National Trust EcoFund, the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities, and the West Norwegian Research Institute have been working on analyzing the threats and risks for each settlement and have already made decisions to implement pilot measures.

“Bulgaria had the opportunity to learn from the experience of the country with the best achievements on the way to climate neutrality - Norway. The efforts to synchronize the activities for climate change adaptation with those for protection of the biological diversity and for achieving social justice - in this new sphere for us, we can be pioneers in our partnership with the Norwegian country,” said Minister Karamfilova. The eight pilot municipalities were selected on the basis of a ranking of the most risky places according to the urban environment report prepared in the process of drafting the national strategy.

For the settlements on the territory of these municipalities, specific measures have been identified to overcome the effect of the “urban heat island”, urban flooding after heavy rainfall, and to protect against activated landslides. The experts on the project are also discussing opportunities for improving the legislation and educational programs in the field of climate change adaptation.

“I believe that within this project, sustainability will also result from the gained capacity for planning and analysis of such measures. I expect that we will work together on legislative change proposals, with which we can respond to the actual conditions in the current situation,” added Minister Karamfilova.

“With this initiative, together with our partners, we are creating a new wave of awareness-raising for caring for nature, water, air and all vital components of the environment. Our main goal today is to start a discussion among all stakeholders on improving the legislation and educational programs in the field of climate change and the possibilities for climate change mitigation and adaptation,” said Penka Mollova-Smolenova, Chair of the Management Board of the National Trust EcoFund.

The conference is held within the framework of a project of the National Trust EcoFund, financed by the Program “Environmental Protection and Climate Change" of the European Economic Area. Representatives of the Norwegian partners in the project, ministries, agencies, municipal administrations, the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria, the professional associations of architects, construction companies, landscape architects, chief architects of municipalities, higher and secondary educational institutions, non-governmental organizations with activities relevant to the climate.