Editorial: Between coal and transition – lessons for local climate action in Romania

Editorial: Between coal and transition – lessons for local climate action in Romania

1. A step back on the road to neutrality

The approval of the new version of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), which allows the continuation of coal-fired power plants, raises major, fundamental questions about the real direction of Romania's energy transition. Although politically justified by the need to "avoid an energy blackout" (Antena 3, 2025), the decision shows a structural tension between immediate energy security and European obligations regarding decarbonization.

In the context of the implementation of the European Green Deal and the European Climate Law (European Commission, 2021), Romania seems to be oscillating between two paradigms: maintaining the status quo and transitioning towards a sustainable development model, based on innovation and climate equity.

2. SCCA perspective: between energy realism and climate responsibility

For the Support Center for Climate Action (SCCA), the decision to extend the life of coal-fired power plants is a critical signal regarding the structural vulnerability of the Romanian energy system.

In the long term, maintaining fossil fuels undermines emission reduction targets, and in the short term, creates an investment dependency that discourages investments in renewables.

As a scientific institution, SCCA has the mission to:

- analyze the real impact of the energy mix on emissions at the local level;

- provide authorities with updated data and transition scenarios.

- promote climate education and scientific culture for informed decisions.

In parallel, the educational and civic role of SCCA is essential: it must become a mediator between science and society, translated into the involvement of citizens in the planning, consultation and monitoring processes of climate action.

3. Lessons for ELCA: Local action as an antidote to national indecision

For the ELCA project – Empowering Local Climate Action, the case of Romania confirms the need to strengthen the capacity of local actors to act. When national policies are slow, cities and regions can become engines of transition. ELCA promotes the concept of empowered localism: climate action must start from the bottom up, based on participation, knowledge and partnerships.

Timișoara, through SCCA, has the potential to demonstrate how universities can function as laboratories of the green transition, bringing together science, administration and citizens.

4. Nature-based solutions (NBS) and the social acceptability of the transition

4.1 Acceptability of green solutions

Nature-based solutions (NBS) – urban forests, green roofs, blue corridors – offer tangible and rapid benefits for health, comfort and air quality. Studies show that they are generally perceived positively, especially when communities are involved in design and maintenance (Kabisch et al., 2017; EEA, 2021). In Timișoara, the potential for acceptance is high, given the university context, civic capital and tradition of a green city.

4.2 Acceptability of traditional solutions

"Traditional" infrastructures (such as coal-fired power plants) enjoy economic and cultural acceptance in the areas dependent on them, being associated with jobs and local identity (Wüstenhagen et al., 2007).

This cultural inertia needs to be addressed through just transition policies that offer real alternatives: professional retraining, social support and positive narratives about the benefits of new green technologies.

4.3 The role of education, climate culture and environmental citizenship

The transition to a green economy cannot be achieved through technologies alone, but through a profound change in mentality and behavior.

In this sense, the concept of "environmental citizenship" becomes a central tool in the climate mitigation approach.

According to Andrew Dobson (2007), environmental citizenship involves individual and collective responsibility towards the environment, acting in both public and private spaces, through informed choices, sustainable behaviors and civic engagement.

More recently, research coordinated by Hadjichambis and Reis (2020) defines environmental citizenship as the active participation of citizens in the democratic transformation of society towards sustainability, through education, deliberation and community action.

In the logic of climate change mitigation strategies, environmental citizenship acts on three levels:

1. Cognitive – developing climate skills and critical thinking about emission sources;

2. Behavioral – adopting daily practices to reduce carbon footprint (mobility, consumption, energy);

3. Participatory – active involvement in local governance (consultations, green budgets, volunteering).

Relationship with SCCA and ELCA

- For SCCA, ecological citizenship becomes the foundation of climate education and public accountability. The center can integrate this concept into its university and civic training programs, transforming students, teachers and citizens into ambassadors of the green transition. Through workshops, campaigns and participatory events, SCCA can cultivate a culture of involvement, based on science, empathy and collective responsibility.

- For the ELCA, environmental citizenship is the key to local empowerment: an informed and active community can maintain the democratic pressure needed to ensure the continuity of decarbonization policies, even when national decisions seem contradictory or regressive.

The recent decision to maintain coal-fired power plants (Antena 3, 2025) demonstrates precisely the importance of informed environmental citizenship. The lack of a real public debate and the absence of transparent consultations on climate implications have contributed to the passive social acceptance of a measure that runs counter to the objectives of neutrality.

In such a context, environmental citizenship is not just a theoretical ideal, but a concrete mechanism of democratic counterbalance: an environmentally educated population can solicit arguments, demand transparency, and impose higher standards of climate responsibility on authorities.

For SCCA and ELCA, this situation presents a strategic opportunity: to strengthen climate citizenship education programs – in schools, universities and communities – so that future national decisions on the energy mix are assessed and understood from a climate perspective, not just an economic one. By creating local networks of climate citizens, involved in NBS projects and monitoring energy policies, SCCA and ELCA can transform reactive debates in public space (such as the one on coal) into a participatory culture of climate action, based on argument, empathy and science.

Thus, ecological citizenship becomes the bridge between scientific governance and climate democracy: a link that ensures that the energy transition is not only technically efficient, but also socially and culturally legitimate.

5. Mitigation strategies: coherence, justice and local resilience

Effective mitigation strategies cannot rely solely on technical measures. They must integrate institutional coherence, social equity and civic participation (EEA, 2023).

For Timișoara, this means:

- a local Just Transition Fund to support vulnerable households;

- educational campaigns coordinated by the SCCA to build climate skills;

- networks of climate citizens to participate in monitoring environmental policies.

By combining scientific knowledge with public participation, the city can become an example of just urban resilience, independent of contradictory directions at the central level.

6. Conclusion: from acceptance to engagement

Temporary maintenance of coal may be a necessary evil, but it cannot be a strategy for the future. Romania needs a transition led not only by governments, but by ecological citizens who understand, accept and participate in the transformation.

For SCCA and ELCA, the mission becomes clear: the formation of a local climate culture, in which each individual becomes an actor, not a spectator. Timișoara can be the laboratory of this new type of citizenship – one that combines scientific knowledge, community values ​​and responsibility towards future generations.

References:

• Antena 3. (2025, October 21). What approved the final version of the PNRR for Romania. Ivan Răman: "Activate coal-fired power plants, a blackout in winter was 100% avoided". Antena 3 CNN. https://www.antena3.ro/politica/ce-a-aprobat-varianta-finala-a-pnrr-pentru-romania-ivan-raman-active-centralele-pe-carbune-un-blackout-in-iarna-a-fost-100-evitat-764091.html
• Dobson, A. (2007). Environmental citizenship: Towards sustainable development. Sustainable Development, 15(5), 276–285. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.344
• European Commission. (2021). European Climate Law (Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June 2021 establishing the framework for achieving climate neutrality). Brussels: European Commission.
• European Environment Agency (EEA). (2021). Nature-based solutions in Europe: Policy, knowledge and practice for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. EEA Report No 1/2021. Copenhagen: European Environment Agency.
• European Environment Agency (EEA). (2023). Just transition in Europe's regions: Drivers, challenges and opportunities. EEA Report No 17/2023. Copenhagen: European Environment Agency.
• Hadjichambis, A. C., & Reis, P. (Eds.). (2020). Conceptualizing environmental citizenship for 21st century education. Springer.
• Kabisch, N., Frantzeskaki, N., & Hansen, R. (Eds.). (2017). Nature-Based Solutions to Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Areas. Springer.

• Wüstenhagen, R., Wolsink, M. and Bürer, M.J. (2007) Social Acceptance of Renewable Energy Innovation: An Introduction to the Concept. Energy Policy, 35, 2683- 2691. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2006.12.001