About this learning event

Sustainability reporting is no longer an exclusively private-sector concern. As governments commit to climate targets under the Paris Agreement, align with the EU Green Agenda, and access climate finance through sovereign green bonds and development bank programmes, public institutions face growing expectations to account for the environmental and social dimensions of their decisions and the governance arrangements underpinning them, and to do so in a structured, transparent way. For Western Balkan economies pursuing EU accession, this shift is accelerating: the EU Green Deal, the revised Green Agenda Action Plan 2025–2030, and the Reform and Growth Facility are increasing expectations for more systematic monitoring, reporting, and transparency around sustainability-related policies and results.

This 3 hour webinar will explore how sustainability reporting evolved from voluntary corporate practice to a public sector imperative and explain how environmental, social, and governance considerations help identify what information matters. It will clarify what is relevant for public vs private sector sustainability reporting and provide an introductory overview of related frameworks and their different purposes, explain what each means for public institutions. We will examine how green and sustainable taxonomies provide the classification systems that make sustainability reporting operational: defining which public expenditures, investments, and bond proceeds qualify as environmentally sustainable, and enabling tools like green budget tagging.

The webinar will also address the role of public enterprises and state-owned enterprises, which operate in the most climate-exposed sectors such as energy, water, transport, waste, and are often the first public sector entities required by lenders and international financial institutions to produce sustainability and climate-related disclosures. Their experience offers practical lessons for the broader public sector.

Drawing on experience and examples, the session will connect international frameworks to institutional realities: what information public institutions already collect that can serve as a foundation for sustainability reporting, where the gaps are, and how cross-agency coordination, data systems, and political commitment need to develop. Participants will gain a clearer understanding of emerging developments and possible steps that public institutions can take.

Who should attend

This webinar is intended for public officials involved in policy development, institutional planning, sustainability, public finance and performance monitoring, particularly in ministries of finance, environment, energy and social affairs ministries and other public institutions.

Faculty

The webinar will be delivered by Olimpija Hristova Zaevska, PhD, Sustainable Finance and Investment Expert.

Practical information

The webinar will take place from 10.00 - 13.00 CET

Partners

This webinar is delivered as part of the Greening Human Capital of Public Institutions of the Western Balkans project implemented by the CEF and supported by The Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy and the Climate Change Fund of Slovenia.