The first in a series of meetings of the Working Group for sustainable development financing, which operates within the National Council for Sustainable Development and contributes to the achievement of its mission and work goals, was an opportunity to present initiatives that strengthen the financing of sustainable development goals and establish a donor coordination mechanism.

In addition, the participants were familiarised with obligations and opportunities arising from the Cooperation Program with the Green Climate Fund. Furthermore, the projects “Enhancing Montenegro’s capacity to integrate climate change risks into planning”, whose goal is to develop the National Adaptation Plan, as well as those strengthening of the Montenegrin nationally determined contribution and adaptation actions within the initiative for building transparency, the Fourth National Report and the First Biennial Report were also presented at the meeting. Finally, planned activities and good practices within the aforementioned projects were introduced to the stakeholders.

The task of the Working group is to provide guidelines aimed at improving the financing system for sustainable development, in accordance with the Addis Agenda, including the mobilisation of resources for the implementation of policies, regulations and strategic documents in the field of sustainable development. This means that the Working Group will provide guidelines and recommendations for the preparation of the annual budget adjusted to the needs of sustainable development, but also for the improvement of the legislative framework that will prioritise investments in the green economy. In this sense, it is necessary to additionally improve and intensify cooperation with the private sector, and within this institutional mechanism, as well as define measures that will ensure sustainable investments of private capital.

In addition to the representatives of state institutions and relevant ministries, the composition of the Working Group consists of representatives of the academic, private and non-governmental sectors, as well as independent members.

Within the framework of the National Council for Sustainable Development, the implementation of sustainable development policy is coordinated and monitored through an open dialogue and proactive exchange of opinions. This is an umbrella body that considers the issues of sustainable development, and as such serves to proactively propose and give guidelines for the development of policies that will have a long-term character, but also be an initiator of the projects that contribute to resilience and preparedness for future crises.