Editorial: Timișoara and the courage to turn a problem into a climate solution
by Rares Halbac-Cotoara-Zamfir and Ilie Vasile Sirbu
The announcement that Timișoara will host Romania's first sewage sludge incinerator (https://www.libertatea.ro/stiri/timisoara-primul-incinerator-namol-romania-2026-transforma-namol-energie-termica-electrica-5577234) is more than a technical or administrative news item. At its core, it is a signal of climate maturity. In a country where waste management is often caught between improvisation and postponement, transforming sewage sludge into thermal and electrical energy marks a concrete step from rhetoric to action in the field of climate mitigation.
From the perspective of the ELCA – Empowering Local Climate Action project, such an initiative perfectly illustrates what genuine local climate action means: solutions rooted in the city's specific challenges, delivering multiple benefits—reducing greenhouse gas emissions, advancing the circular economy, contributing to partial energy independence, and easing pressure on landfills. Sludge, long seen as an inconvenient residue, becomes a resource. This very shift in mindset lies at the heart of an authentic climate transition.
The role of CSAC – the Climate Action Support Center is essential in this context. Not only as a provider of expertise, but as an interface between public administration, the scientific community, and civil society. Projects like the sludge incinerator show why permanent structures are needed to translate climate objectives into public policies that are applicable, measurable, and tailored to local realities. Without such a bridge, many initiatives remain either on paper or isolated.
Equally important is the role of the Climate Council, which must function as a guarantor of coherence and transparency. Social acceptance of technologies such as incineration cannot be taken for granted. It is built through clear data, impact assessments, public dialogue, and embedding the project within a broader vision of climate neutrality. The Climate Council should not be merely a symbolic advisory body, but an active actor in assessing climate benefits and addressing risks perceived by the community.
Once again, Timișoara has the opportunity to serve as an urban laboratory for Romania. Not because it adopts a spectacular technology, but because it demonstrates how responsible decision-making can emerge at the intersection of environment, energy, and governance. If this project is accompanied by honest communication, rigorous monitoring, and integration into local climate strategies, it can become a model replicable at national level.
Ultimately, the climate transition is not driven only by grand international declarations, but by concrete facilities, courageous decisions, and local institutions capable of sustaining change. And Timișoara has just shown that this path is possible.