Speech by RCC Secretary General at the conference United for Climate: Regional Cooperation for a Resilient Future

05 May 2026 | SPEECH

RCC Secretary General Amer Kapetanovic gave a keynote speech at the opening of the conference United for Climate: Regional Cooperation for a Resilient Future, held in Tirana on 5 May 2026.

Kapetanović underscored that climate change is already imposing severe and measurable economic, social, and human costs across the Western Balkans, with disasters like floods and wildfires causing large-scale damage, displacement, and long-term GDP losses. He argues that the region remains trapped in a reactive cycle-spending heavily on recovery instead of investing in prevention—turning each climate event into both an environmental and fiscal crisis that diverts funds from essential public services. Central to his message is the idea that “climate adaptation is not only an environmental agenda but also a development, fiscal, infrastructure, security and healthcare agenda,” requiring governments to rethink priorities and embed resilience into finance, planning, and regional cooperation. He highlighted initiatives such as a regional adaptation strategy, biodiversity planning, sustainable finance tools, and a potential risk insurance mechanism to shift from post-disaster spending to pre-disaster preparedness. Kapatenovic called for a collective transition from shared vulnerability to shared preparedness and concrete investment, stressing that because climate impacts cross borders, only coordinated regional action can deliver meaningful and lasting resilience.

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