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The Serbian Ministry of Environmental Protection is considering subsidizing the installation of gas devices in new and used cars next year, in order to reduce pollution from exhaust gases, and will consider subsidizing the purchase of bicycles to reduce the use of cars, said Minister Goran Trivan.
Incentives for the installation of gas appliances in cars, for which around one million euros could be contributed, would allow greater coverage of vehicles, that is, a reduction in exhaust gases. We are also willing to subsidize the purchase of bicycles, but it would be necessary to make a good model, it would not be an abuse, “he said on the occasion of the International Car-Free Day, which is celebrated this year in more than 30 cities in Serbia.
He recalled that this year the subsidy for the purchase of hybrid and electric vehicles began, for which nearly one million euros were contributed from the budget.
Trivan said that around 700 electric and hybrid cars were registered in Serbia at the beginning of the year and that more than 170 applications for approval of subsidies for the purchase of new electric and hybrid vehicles are currently in process.
He noted that it is especially important that in Belgrade, as the largest city that had an air pollution problem during the previous winter, the number of cycle lanes increased and there were more and more electric buses.
He added that it is increasingly understood that the issue of air pollution and environmental protection is a problem not only for one ministry, but for the entire Government and all citizens.
He also believes that in the next Serbian government, greater authorizations should be granted to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, that its competence over water, forests and sustainable development be annexed, as well as that greater authority be given to the Environmental Protection Agency.
“The Ministry of Ecology and Resources would be so comprehensive. Similar ministries already exist in the world,” Trivan said.
Traffic accounts for up to 20 percent of pollution
At the central celebration in Ada Ciganlija, it was also stated that according to data from the Serbian Environmental Protection Agency, traffic participates in air pollution in the country from six to 20 percent, indicating that with heating in winter and the production of electricity from fossil fuels, traffic pollutes the air more seriously.
It was also pointed out that currently around 55% of the world’s population lives in cities and that it will reach 70% in 2050, so it is crucial for future urban planners to find a model of sustainable mobility in populated areas, which encourages alternative modes of transport. like the bicycle.
One of the founders of the “Novi Sad Cycling Initiative”, Marko Trifković, who came to Belgrade by bicycle, pointed out that perseverance, but also cooperation with local governments in establishing infrastructure, is necessary to change awareness of residents of large cities on the benefits of cycling.
He stated that in 10 years, since the participation of the “Novi Sad Bicycle Initiative” began, the number of people actively cycling in Novi Sad has increased from 10,000 to around 40,000.
The ambassador of the Netherlands to Serbia, Jules Beshor Plug, who came to Ada by bicycle, said that there is still no good infrastructure for cycling in Serbia, but that he believes that commitment and improvement in that area will raise the level of the cycling in cities similar to the EU. .
He emphasized that, when the infrastructure for cyclists is made, people will automatically look for bicycles, because they are an economical means of transport, faster in urban traffic than other types of transport and healthier for people and the environment.
The idea of commemorating International Car Free Day was established during the oil crisis in the 1970s, but the initiative to commemorate this day was launched only in 1994.
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