News

As part of the European Week of Waste Reduction (18–24 November 2024), the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy of the Republic of Slovenia highlights the importance of responsible food management.

At today’s session, the Government adopted three decrees seeking to cut the high electricity bills in the upcoming winter season and thus ease the transition to the new system of calculating network charges. The measures are aimed at enabling people to get through the winter calmly, without high electricity bills.

From 11 to 22 November, the 29th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan. Slovenian delegation will be led by Minister of the Environment, Climate and Energy Bojan Kumer, who will participate in the ministerial negotiations to be held in the meeting’s second week.

According to the Statistical Office, Slovenia last year exceeded its 2020 target of a 25% renewable energy share, as set out in the EU Directive on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources. For the first time, Slovenia will not incur a surcharge for meeting its renewable energy target through the statistical transfer mechanism.

The tenth Meeting of the Parties to the Water Convention, hosted by Slovenia in Ljubljana and thus taking over the Presidency of the Convention Bureau, is coming to an end. The session was organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia in cooperation with the Secretariat of the Water Convention.

The tenth meeting of the Parties to the Water Convention in Ljubljana continues. Following yesterday's official opening and high-level discussion, today and tomorrow the Parties will focus on general topics, such as reviewing the implementation of the current work program and adopting a new one, decisions on the direction of the convention and elections to working bodies. We pay special attention to side events today.

The main event of the meeting was the high-level discussion "Our Waters, Our Future: Transboundary Water Cooperation to Strengthen Climate Resilience", which was attended by high-level representatives of countries – ministers, state secretaries and other representatives of governmental and non-governmental international organizations. At the end, the participants also adopted the joint conclusions of the high segment of the session.

The tenth meeting of the parties to the Water Convention in Ljubljana has finally begun. The high-level international event, organized under the auspices of the United Nations by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning, is attended by about 600 representatives from all over the world. On behalf of the hosts, Minister Jože Novak and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Ms. Tatiana Molcean addressed the audience.

The United Nations designated the first Monday of October of every year as World Habitat Day to reflect on the state of our cities and towns, and on the basic right of all to adequate shelter. The day highlights the key challenges of sustainable urban development and better living conditions in urban areas. This year's theme is: "Engaging youth to create a better urban future".

In less than a month, Slovenia will host the tenth session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Water Convention and take over a three-year presidency of the Water Convention Bureau. The Convention currently brings together 55 Parties. Also due to the experience with last year's catastrophic floods, it is in Slovenia's interest to strengthen the resilience of transboundary river basins and river basins so that they can effectively cope with the challenges posed by climate change.

The natural gas supply to Slovenia and the wider region will be stable and reliable this winter, mainly thanks to other sources from Algeria, Azerbaijan and Norway.

The world is facing a triple planetary crisis – biodiversity loss, pollution of natural resources and climate change. The latter is also manifested in extreme, water-related phenomena – floods, low flows, and droughts. As all countries are confronted with climate change, they must contribute to increasing climate resilience in transboundary river basins and river basins in concert and through common approaches.

Between 23rd and 25th of October 2024, the tenth meeting of the parties to the Water Convention will take place at the Ljubljans Economic Exhibition Centre, at which Slovenia succeeds the three-year chairmanship of the convention bureau from Estonia. Around 500 attendees from all over the world are expected at the event.

The Cross-border Biosphere Reserve of the Julian Alps was declared today at the 36th meeting of the International Coordinating Council of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme in Agadir, Morocco. This brings together two existing Biosphere Reserves – the Julian Alps Biosphere Reserve on the Slovenian side and the Italian Julian Alps Biosphere Reserve.

In the new episode of the GOVSI podcast, host Zoran Potič interviewed two guests, one from the public sector and one from the non-governmental sector – Director of the Directorate for Nature at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning Dr Katarina Groznik Zeiler and President of the Society for Observation and Study of Birds of Slovenia (BirdLife Slovenia (DOPPS)) Dr Tanja Šumrada. The occasion for the interview was the awarding of a new national award, the Rado Smerdu Award, for contributions to the development of the profession of nature conservation and to nature conservation itself.

At its two last sessions, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted two flood recovery programmes to repair the damage caused by the August 2023 floods, with the development incentives measures programme also being drafted. After successfully preparing and submitting the application for financial assistance from the European Union Solidarity Fund, Slovenia received the maximum possible advance payment from the EU Solidarity Fund of EUR 100 million already in December 2023.

In the coming days, we are celebrating a series of European, global, and international days that remind us each year of our relationship with nature and the importance of preserving nature for future generations – World Bee Day on 20 May, European Natura 2000 Day on 21 May, International Day of Biological Diversity on 22 May and European Day of Parks on 24 May.

In Turkey, representatives of Mediterranean countries are discussing actions that countries need to take to increase climate resilience and water and food security. As Slovenia currently holds the Presidency of the Barcelona Convention for the protection of the Mediterranean, the Slovenian representatives presented the activities and measures being implemented within the framework of the Convention.

In the first three days of May, most of Slovenia’s electricity consumption was covered by renewable energy sources, while on 4 May 2024, the electricity generated from renewables even exceeded daily consumption.

State Secretary Sanja Štiglic and US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O'Brien hosted the fourth Strategic Dialogue between the two countries in Ljubljana. Established in 2020, the Slovenian-US Strategic Dialogue provides a framework for strengthening bilateral cooperation and exchanging views on all topical issues facing the international community.