Monday, July 17, 2023
The Green Group of the Assembly of Albania held an informative session on "Green public transport - European policies and necessary incentives in Albania". The expert presentations brought the best local and foreign experience and studies, offering concrete recommendations for legal initiatives that can be undertaken by the MPs.
The Chairman of the Green Group, Mr. Arben Pėllumbi, emphasized in his welcoming speech the legal changes that have been discussed in the parliamentary committees recently as incentives for encouraging the use of energy from renewable sources, as well as the law on greenhouse gases, as initiatives aimed at implementing of the objectives of the European Green Agenda.
Mr. Ferdinand Xhaferaj, vice-chairman and responsible for the transport and mobility committee at the Green Group, also underlined the focus on transport and urban mobility policies as the main sector that can influence the reduction of carbon dioxide and other gas emissions pollutants with impact on public health and climate change.
Mr. Erjon Tase, director of the Academy of Political Studies, confirmed in his speech the continuation of support for increasing the capacities of the Green Group for a further 2-year period within the framework of the support of the German International Cooperation (GIZ) and the Union European.
The session continues with the presentation of the necessary legislative and fiscal incentives to enable the development of green public transport. Ms. Erisa Nesimi, public transport planning expert - GIZ Albania and Mr. Rixhin Qoshja, expert at the General Directorate of Road Transport Services, offered some findings of the studies developed by the Sustainable Public Transport in Tirana project of GIZ. The analyzes and proposals provided by the studies on public transport in the capital can be used as models for other cities with rapid urban development and replicated in policies at the national level.
The second part of the presentations focused on the latest studies carried out on the level of air pollution, where transport bears the main weight for harmful emissions. Prof. Dr. Besnik Baraj, returned to his parliamentary colleagues to present the findings of the measurements carried out on the level of fine particles caused mainly by the burning of fuels in the city of Tirana. The presentation of Mrs. Valbona Mazreku, executive director of Milieukontakt Albania.
The MPs appreciated the recommendations that can be turned into concrete initiatives for legal changes as well as the discussions that help them to exercise the right influence on the parliamentary functions as well as their sphere of public influence.
The activity was organized by the Academy of Political Studies in cooperation with the Parliament of Albania, with the support of the German Federal Government and the European Union, within the program implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Gesellschaft GmbH (GIZ) "Increasing the knowledge of Green Parliamentary Groups informal from South-Eastern Europe on the European Union's objectives on energy and transport". GIZ collaborates with the Schools of Political Studies of the Council of Europe in the region with the main objective of informing and promoting concrete legislative and supervisory initiatives within the parliamentary functions of the Green Parliamentary Groups, as well as creating collaborations with other groups in the parliaments of the Western Balkans region.
