During his visit to the Expo he participated in the business and expert forum "Sustainable Living and Wood – Fit for 55" within the framework of European Green Days, a special event organised by the Slovenian Consular Corps, the expert and business forum "Concrete Steps and Projects to Achieve Climate Goals and Establish Foundations for the Creation of a Modern Climate-Neutral Economy" and the event at the Slovenian exhibition pavilion "All About Wood & Food". 

At two forums, State Secretary Anton Harej also gave an opening address. At the first one entitled "Wood – Sustainable Living and Wood – Fit for 55", the State Secretary highlighted the importance of such panels in raising the awareness on the importance of forests and their role in promoting a circular bioeconomy, rural development, the protection of biodiversity and achieving carbon neutrality by 2030. "Forests have also an important role in reducing the risk of natural disasters, including floods, droughts, landslides and other extreme events. Slovenian forest owners use forests in a way that complies and will continue to comply with the relevant ecological, economic and social functions of forests," said the State Secretary. He added that Slovenia also included forestry among the priorities during its Presidency of the Council of the EU. "We focused on the role of forests and forestry in the preservation and development of rural areas. We promoted sustainable, multifunctional and environmentally sound forest management, also with the aim of preserving forest biodiversity. He concluded by pointing out that we need more forests in the future, but that the forests must be healthy, resilient and able to fulfil numerous economic, social and environmental functions.

The second forum attended by State Secretary Harej focused on achieving climate goals and establishing the foundations for building a climate-neutral economy. In his opening address, the State Secretary emphasised that sustainable practices can bring many benefits. Among other things, through these practices we can protect biodiversity and contribute to climate goals. One step towards sustainability is the production of wood products. "The production of wood products plays an important role in providing employment opportunities and income. This applies in particular to rural and remote areas of many countries where wood is strongly linked to traditional craft, culture and tradition. However, it should be underlined that the growing demand for wood as a nature-friendly renewable material will also require a balance between more traditional uses and new innovative products." He also touched on the impact of climate change on forestry, pointing out that climate change is already having an impact on the provision of forest services and that this will continue to be the case in the future.

The events are part of the visit of a 52-member delegation from the wood and furniture industry and state institutions that is visiting the Expo in Dubai until tomorrow. During this time, the Slovenian pavilion has organised various networking events, business talks and expert tours of selected foreign pavilions.