Achieving SDGs became the key topic of the XXIII Belarusian Energy and Environmental Forum

On October 9-12, Minsk hosted the 23rd Belarusian Energy Forum and Exposition EnergyExpo. The participants presented over 150 innovative projects in Energy and Ecology. For the first time, the agenda of the Forum included the discussions of Sustainable Development Goals and the Plenary session on “SDGs of the Republic of Belarus. Energy. Ecology. Energy efficiency.” At the session, the Minister of Energy of the Republic of Belarus Victor Karankevich presented a report on the strategy of Belarusian energy development and outlined the connections with SDGs. The list of the key indicators for Belarusian energy development includes the following directions:

•   Reducing the share of the dominant type of fuel (natural gas) in gross consumption;

•   Reducing the share of the dominant energy source (gas) in the production of heat and electricity;

•   Raising the country’s energy self-sufficiency level;

•    the share of accumulated depreciation in the original value of fixed assets of the energy companies. 

The First Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental protection of the Republic of Belarus Iya Malkina took part in the session with a report on the trends of energy development in the context of sustainable development and Paris Climate Agreement. Head of the Energy Department of the Eurasian Economic Commission Leonid Shenets spoke about the perspectives of the Fuel and Energy Complex of Eurasian Economic Union, as well as the representatives of Germany, Austria, and other countries.t The Forum gathered the representatives of 300 organizations from 15 countries (Austria, Belarus, Germany, Denmark, Italy, China, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, Finland, France, Czech Republic, and Switzerland) who shared their experience on the implementation of SDGs. 

The scientific and practical conference “SDGs: science and innovations” was dedicated completely to the Agenda 2030. Iya Malkina,  the First Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental protection of the Republic of Belarus, named the main directions on achieving Ecology Sustainability in Belarus: “It’s obvious that the key priorities for us are the development of green electric transport, creation of the network of green or smart cities and improvement of the system of urban mobility which means social welfare, ecological safety, and energy efficiency”.