Lithuania’s global initiative – “Transition to Sustainable Heating”

Industry News
07 October 2019

Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nausėda delivered a speech at the Climate Action Summit, one of the key high-level events at the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly.

The President, who spoke immediately after Donald Tusk, expressed Lithuania’s solidarity with those world countries that placed special focus on environmental protection and climate change. He emphasized the importance of maintaining sustainable natural processes and shared Lithuania’s experience in effectively addressing climate change issues and successfully implementing the EU’s commitment to go climate neutral.

The President introduced Lithuania’s global initiative “Transition to Sustainable Heating” aimed at reducing the use of fossil fuels in centralized district heating and at delivering climate neutrality. The initiative is supported by Sweden, Austria, Ukraine, Georgia, and Latvia, with other countries where central heating is indispensable also expected to join.

Gitanas Nausėda presented Lithuania’s decision to substitute fossil fuels for biomass and eventually to switch completely to biomass in district heating. “In Lithuania, the share of biomass in residential district heating has increased from 30 to 70 percent over the last five years, while at the same time average heating prices have fallen by 30 to 40 percent,” the President said.

In his speech, the President highlighted five priorities that should be immediately included in the world leaders’ agenda to preserve priceless natural beauty and diversity for future generations. They include climate neutrality and minimized fossil-fuel energy production, promotion of innovation, development of circular economy, increased cooperation between public and private sectors, and unique country-specific tools to fight climate change.

The President underlined that Lithuania fully supported a transition to renewables. He urged energy consumers to become energy prosumers.