18/09/2026 NALAS is taking part in the Third Annual Ministerial Meeting on the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans, held on 18–19 September 2026 in Žabljak, Montenegro, under Montenegro’s Chairmanship of the Berlin Process.
The meeting brings together Western Balkan governments, the European Commission and key regional and international partners to review progress in implementation of the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans and provide political guidance for its next phase. Discussions focus on climate resilience, biodiversity and nature protection, circular economy, water resilience and sustainable finance, with the outcomes expected to contribute to the 2026 Berlin Process Summit.
Representing NALAS at the Strategic Partners’ Roundtable, NALAS Vice-President Tadej Beočanin underlined that the success of the Green Agenda will ultimately depend on its implementation at local level.
“The Green Agenda becomes real only when it becomes local.”
NALAS Vice-President Tadej Beočanin
He stressed that regional strategies and national commitments provide the overall direction, but citizens experience the green transition through local public services and the quality and resilience of their communities – including water, waste management, mobility and clean air.
In his intervention, Beočanin highlighted three priorities for the next phase of the Green Agenda: stronger local ownership, adequate municipal capacities and tools, and better access to financing.
Municipalities should be involved not only in implementing policies but also in shaping targets, mechanisms and monitoring arrangements. A structured dialogue between national and local governments should therefore become an integral part of Green Agenda implementation.
NALAS is already supporting municipalities through initiatives including the Covenant of Mayors Office for South-East Europe, the Green Champions initiative, and regional work on circular economy, climate resilience and sustainable urban mobility.
The importance of linking local capacity with investment was also illustrated through concrete NALAS initiatives. The EU-funded WATERVILL project, developed by NALAS and its members within the RCDN project, is supporting municipalities in testing more resilient and sustainable water-management approaches. Meanwhile, EU4ALL in Montenegro, implemented by NALAS together with the Union of Municipalities of Montenegro, and EU4Municipalities in Albania, implemented by GIZ and NALAS, demonstrate how investment support can be combined with capacity building and reform.
NALAS reaffirmed its readiness to continue serving as a bridge between national policy-making and local implementation – bringing the voice and experience of municipalities into policy dialogue, strengthening their capacity to deliver and helping successful local solutions scale across the Western Balkans.
The meeting concluded with the adoption of the Žabljak Declaration, reaffirming the Western Balkans’ shared commitment to advancing the Green Agenda through stronger regional cooperation and coordinated action.
The Declaration also endorsed a set of key regional strategic documents and initiatives, including:
- the WB6 Climate Adaptation Strategy, establishing a structured framework for regional cooperation on climate adaptation planning and climate risks, including water resilience;
- the WB6 Biodiversity Strategic Plan 2030, aligned with the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework;
- the WB6 Forest Landscape Restoration Plan, setting out priority actions for the restoration of forest ecosystems critical for biodiversity protection and climate resilience;
- the Regional Pledge on phasing out the top five most littered single-use plastic products, supporting coordinated regional action to prevent and reduce plastic pollution; and
- the Regional Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Framework for Plastic Packaging, operationalising Action 19 of the revised Green Agenda for the Western Balkans Action Plan through a harmonised and implementable regional approach.
Importantly, the Žabljak Declaration also reiterated the need for the meaningful participation of all relevant stakeholders, including local governments, in the implementation of the Green Agenda.
