From failure to success: Serbian approach in mitigation of global climate change and extreme weather events

Abstract

When the issue of (in-) security is raised in relation to climate change it is most often associated with humanitarian catastrophes caused by extreme weather events. Taking into account all the challenges that Serbia has been exposed to, it is interesting to analyse some extreme weather events in the past. Among many of them there are obvious differences in the institutional response and mitigate the effects. Unfortunately, in the past we have witnessed major losses due to some failure of national institutions. Serbia has made many positive steps on the path towards full EU membership. But still, there is plenty of room for improvement. The paper analyses generally accepted methodology in social science to address past gaps and recommend how to avoid them in the future. Serbia has to dedicate funds for specific research, and to the training of its population, emergency and military personnel, as well as to start work on a National Action Plan for Adaptation and Strategy of reaction in emergencies.