Rich countries are not doing enough to help the Global South, especially financially, to deal with the climate crisis. This was announced by Indira Kartallozi, guest speaker at the third edition of the ESG&FRIENDS forum.
The event, organized by the first specialized media for promoting ESG in Bulgaria ESGnews.bg., took place at the Hilton Sofia Hotel under the motto “Re-position, Re-think, Re-grow”.
Kartallozi, who is originally from Kosovo and lived in Bulgaria in her early years after leaving her country, paid special attention to the Balkan region.
The Green Deal will have a particular impact on our region. A lot of action needs to be taken. A lot of investments need to be made. It was a real pleasure for me to learn from the hall of the ESG&FRIENDS forum that in Bulgaria there are already companies that have taken the path to achieving climate neutrality by 2050. But more is needed – a transition to green energy systems, protection and restoration of biodiversity , one must carefully follow the processes in the world and capture the global perspectives,” she stated.
Kartallozi drew attention to the challenges facing Europe in general and the Balkans in particular on the way to achieving sustainability:
As a rule, the Global South is more polluted. This is mainly because not enough funds to fight climate change are being channeled from richer to poorer countries. But in general the situation with nature in Europe is extremely bad. 80 percent of the habitats are in terrible condition. So the obstacles we face are mostly of a financial nature. As for the Balkans, here are the problems that need to be solved urgently – energy dependence on coal and other fossil fuels; regulations and lack of data – companies are still not clear on what to do; public awareness and engagement; and, of course, corruption.”
However, she emphasized that there are also some positive aspects in the development of our region – such as the serious investments in renewable energy sources, as well as the decrease in greenhouse emissions, with Kartallozi pointing to the 23% reduction achieved by Bulgaria in 2020 as a good example.
Kartallozi did not miss to say a few words about her native country:
There is an initiative for action in Kosovo, we just need to encourage it. Our goal is to create a vision with which people and the economy coexist in the future.
Finally, she decided to issue a challenge to the participants of the third edition of the ESG&FRIENDS forum:
I want to challenge you to be brave – in your personal life, at work, change one thing, even if it’s something small.”
Indira Kartallozi is a director at Kaleidoscope Futures, a lecturer and course assessor at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Management. Indira’s experience ranges from sustainability and social enterprise to human rights and transformational leadership. Indira is the founder of Sustainability Leadership Kosovo and is recognized as one of the Top 100 CSR leaders.
