Slovakia

Slovakia ratified the UNFCCC in 1994 and the Kyoto Protocol in 2002. It submitted its first national communication to the UNFCCC in 1995, followed by communications in 1997, 2001, 2005 and 2013. For the second Kyoto Protocol commitment period, Slovakia has adopted the joint EU “20-20-20” targets of the “climate and energy package”. Within the EU joint commitment, Slovakia is required to limit the increase in its non-ETS GHG emissions to 13% by 2020 (base year 2005), to achieve a minimum share of 14% of gross final energy consumption from renewables by 2020, and reduce total final energy consumption by 11% by 2020 (base year 2005).

So far, meeting international commitments for emissions reductions has not been particularly challenging f, as reflected in the National GHG Inventory System data. Total GHG emissions, including sinks from LULUCF, decreased by more than 38% over 1990-2011 thanks to structural economic changes and strict domestic environmental policies even before the country joined the EU in 2004, particularly on air quality. F-gases (HFCs, SF6) are the only GHGs whose emissions have increased since 1990 (mainly in industry). The country has overachieved its Kyoto target and had a significant surplus of tradable emission allowances in the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. The profits from the Kyoto Protocol flexible mechanism are reinvested in measures aiming at further reductions of GHG emissions through the State Environmental Fund and the SlovSEFF III Greening Programme.

The Climate Change Policy Department of the Ministry of Environment (MoE) serves as the National Focal Point for the UNFCCC. The MoE adopted the ‘National Sustainable Development Strategy of the Slovak Republic’ (2001), which includes key climate change targets. The government also approved the preparation of the ‘Low-carbon Development Strategy of the Slovak Republic until 2030’ in 2014. The Ministry of Economy coordinates energy policy, including promotion of renewables and energy efficiency. Additionally, the High Level Committee for Co-ordination of Climate Change Policy (created in 2011) ensures an effective coordination of development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of mitigation and adapta­tion policies. It also publishes the “Report on the Current State of Fulfilment of the International Climate Change Policy Commitments of the Slovak Republic”, annually submitted to the Government (so far 2012, 2013, 2014).

Currently, most of the policies and measures to tackle climate change are guided by the EU regulation. The EU ETS is the central policy tool for mitigation of GHGs from stationary sources, complemented by policies and measures aiming to increase the share of renewable energy sources and improve energy efficiency. In addition, policies and measures have been put in place to define more stringent quality standards for fuels and passenger vehicles, as well as GHG mitigation policy for industry, waste management and agriculture. The adaptation strategy was approved in 2013. On the local level, municipalities play an important role, in particular through drafting and implementing local climate change action plans and local climate change adaptation strategies.

Beyond the legislative level, many public and private initiatives exist, such as research activities (e.g. Water Research Institute, Forestry Research Institute Zvolen, Transportation Research Institute Zilina, Slovak Academy of Science), climate monitoring initiatives (e.g. Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute, Slovak Environ­mental Agency), and educational and public awareness-raising activities (academic curricula, conferences, festivals, exhibitions, educational publications and training). Non-governmen­tal organisations and private initiatives (e.g. the Slovak Innovation and Energy Agency, Friends of the Earth, Detox, SPIRIT, Ecosys) are also involved in the development and implementation of measures to mitigate climate change impacts.

Energy supply

The key objectives of energy policy, following mostly from EU legislation, are detailed in the Energy Policy of the Slovak Republic (2000, 2006, 2013), the Energy Security Strategy of the Slovak Republic, the Action Plan for Energy Efficiency (2008-2010; 2011-2013), the National Action Plan for Biomass use (2008) and the National Renewable Energy Action Plan (2010). They aim to transform the still primarily fossil-fuel oriented and import-dependent energy production mix of the country (2011: natural gas 26%, coal 22%, nuclear fuel 22%, oil 21%, renewable sources 9%). The main objectives are: increasing efficiency in the power and end-use sectors, reducing energy intensity, reducing dependence on energy imports, expanding the use of nuclear power, and increasing the share of renewables in the heat, electricity and transport sectors to 14% of total energy use in 2020 (base year 2005). Because of high dependence on oil and gas imports (mainly from Russia), energy security is high on the policy agenda and the Government aims to expand storage capacities, enable reverse flows at the country’s two western interconnectors and increase energy efficiency.

The Renewable Energy Act is the main instrument to support renewable electricity generation and fuel switching and led to an unanticipated “solar boom” in early 2011, due to its generous feed-in tariffs for solar energy. The tariffs were scaled back and further restricted in 2013, in an effort to tackle non-transparent practices in the context of financial support for large-scale PV installations. At the same time some administrative barriers to small rooftop PV facilities installations have been reduced: operators of these installations can now generate electricity for their own use without having to register as entrepreneurs.

Energy demand

Slovakia has achieved impressive results in energy efficiency since 1990s (one of the steepest among OECD countries), mainly due to economic restructuring, but also energy efficiency improvements. Energy intensity decreased by 45% between 2001 and 2012, but it still remains higher than the European average and large energy saving potential exists in most sectors, especially in buildings and transport. The main targets, contributing to the 20% EU’s energy efficiency target, include an indicative national energy efficiency target of 3.12 Mtoe for final energy savings for the period 2014-2020 and an absolute target of 16.2 Mtoe for the primary consumption and 10.4 Mtoe for the final consumption by 2020. The Energy Efficiency Act and the Act on energy performance of buildings are the main instruments for demand management by 2020. Additional financial support for energy efficiency measures is provided by a number of programmes, such as the Operational Programme Competitiveness and Economic Growth launched in 2012.

Carbon pricing

The EU ETS is Slovakia’s main carbon pricing initiative. The revenues from AAUs trade constitute income for the Environmental Fund, which also contributes to climate change mitigation measures. Slovakia also implemented the EU directive on excise tax from electricity, coal and natural gas (2008). However, in 2012 Slovakia had the lowest implicit energy tax rate in the EU. The introduction of a carbon tax for the non-ETS sector is under consideration and support for electricity generation from domestic coal has been progressively lowered. While electricity consumers were obliged to pay a total sum of EUR70.6m (USD88.6m) in their final price of electricity in 2011 to support domestic coal, this fee decreased to EUR24m (USD30.1m) in 2013 and is expected to be EUR19m (USD23.8m) in 2014.

REDD+ and LULUCF

A basic framework for the conservation of forests and retaining of carbon stocks in forests has been set up by the Act on Forest Management. It has contributed to the long term increase of forest land (41% of territory in 2012). The carbon stock in above-ground living biomass increased by 46.7m tons between 1990 and 2012.  However, the carbon sinks in forest ecosystems fluctuate substantially depending on meteorological conditions and weather extremes (e.g. the 2004 windstorm in the Tatra Mountains destroyed more than 12,000 ha of forest). Another serious problem affecting the health of forests is the expansion of bark beetle (in particular after the 2004 windstorm), resulting in forest biomass waste and mortality in spruce stands.

Transportation

GHG emissions from transport have been increasing and in 2012 they represented 15.4% of total emissions, despite measures such as new categorisation of vehicles, promotion of new vehicle technologies and advanced fuels. Revenues from taxation of transport (excluding fuels) are low in comparison to other EU member states. On the other hand, biofuels policy has been put in place to meet the targets required by EU legislation. There are two different biofuel targets for the transport sector: biofuel energy content share (calculated from the energy content of the total quantity of petrol and diesel fuels placed in the market) and minimum content of biofuels in each litre of a particular type of fuel (diesel and petrol). As of 2013, the mandatory biofuel content share is 4%, the minimum volume for biodiesel 5.4%, and the bioethanol component in petrol 3.3%.

Adaptation

Slovakia is particularly vulnerable to variations in precipitation and the water cycle, as well as extreme weather events impacting the forest cover. Over the last 20 years, a significant increase in the occurrence of extreme daily precipitation has been observed compared to the period 1975-1993. This trend has resulted in higher risk of local floods (higher frequency and severity – e.g. June 2013). On the other hand, local and regional droughts caused by long periods of relatively warm weather and low precipitation to­tals in the summer have been recorded (particularly strong in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012). In response to those challenges, Slovakia adopted its National Adaptation Strategy in March 2014. Adaptation measures have also been incorporated into several policies implemented within different sectors including the water, agriculture, forestry, biodiversity, and health sectors.