 |
|
By Janez Podobnik, Minister of the Environment and Spatial Planning for the Republic of Slovenia
|
When Slovenia emerged as a sovereign state in 1991, very few people in western Europe had any real knowledge of the country. Several brands, products and services from Slovenia were familiar, but even these needed to be repackaged to reflect the country’s new circumstances. Slovenia is now becoming increasingly familiar on the world stage, thanks largely to its recognized scientists, artists and sportsmen. People in Europe and even across the globe can today pinpoint Slovenia on the world map.
Slovenia’s economy has recently passed several milestones. In 2006, annual per capita Gross Domestic Product crossed the psychological mark of €15,000, growth was 5.7% and 54% of households had access to the internet. In 2007, Slovenia became the first of the new EU member states to join the eurozone and, in 2008, it took on the presidency of the EU – again, the first new member state to do so.
However, raw numbers cannot really illustrate the essence of Slovenia; its main attraction is the quality of life. Many people here live in small towns and villages scattered across the beautiful countryside. Roughly one third of the entire country is included in the Natura 2000 network. Slovenians are still closely connected to nature and have an almost sentimental relationship with the natural world; this is undoubtedly one of the most important facets of the Slovenian national character. When Slovenia joined the EU in 2004, there was some unease in older member states about possible mass emigration from the newcomers. One diplomat posted to Ljubljana reassured Slovenia’s worried neighbours by joking: “Come on; they won’t even move to Ljubljana – and they have a good reason for that.” Slovenians prefer to stay in their picturesque environment and live amid untouched nature.
Saving Europe’s biodiversity a priority for Slovenia
Germany, Portugal and Slovenia set very ambitous goals on biodiversity when they drew up their joint EU presidency programme. The objective was to make more and more people across Europe aware of the importance of conservation – and to improve the implementation of measures aimed at halting the loss of biodiveristy within the European Union by 2010. So conservation of European biodiversity is a priority for the Slovenian presidency in the first half of 2008.
At a conference on business and biodiversity in Lisbon late last year, top-level delegates reconfirmed that biodiversity counts. The conference agreed that Europe needs to improve the integration of biodiversity objectives into schemes that are designed to improve corporate social responsibility, strategic environmental assessment, social and environmental accreditation and labelling, plus socially responsible investment. All these major themes – and more – were discussed at Lisbon.
Slovenians understand how vital it is to approach issues about spatial planning and the sustainable use of natural resources from the perspective of natural ecosystems. Slovenia sits at the junction of four major European ecological regions – the Alpine, Mediterranean, Dinaric and Panonic areas. So we recognise that we must respect regional principles when planning for the future. At the same time, we know that the development of conservation and biodiversity policies also depends crucially on the role of global treaties, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, as well as the Alpine, Barcelona and Danube Conventions. This is also true for the other great global environmental challenge of our time – climate change – and when considering the local consequences of droughts and floods. Thus, countries in our region increasingly recognise the need to expand trans-boundary, regional and global cooperation and, more and more, they acknowledge the importance of implementing projects that better integrate effective and sustainable management of our natural resources.
Slovenia is already playing its part. By chairing the Bureau of the Barcelona Convention and establishing the Adriatic Sea partnership, Slovenia has actively contributed to implementing the Mediterranean sustainable development strategy and the development of the EU maritime policy. Slovenia’s presidency of the European Union is a fresh opportunity to make a difference on biodiversity. |
Unfortunately, this preference is generating unsustainable behaviour and represents a serious challenge for the national Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning. Slovenia is currently facing a raft of major environmental problems, including deforestation, loss of biodiversity, degraded air and water quality, plus climate change, drought and desertification.
By chance - but symbolically - Slovenia made its first international appearance as a sovereign state at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. From then on it was actively involved in international efforts to protect nature, biodiversity and the environment in general. Initially, Slovenia concentrated on regional agreements, such as the Alpine Convention and the Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea. This was largely due to scarce human capacity. After the conclusion of the Dayton agreement, which formally ended the conflict in the western Balkans, the environment became an important area of cooperation among the new nations of south east Europe. The 2002 Framework Agreement on the Sava River Basin, signed in Kranjska gora in Slovenia, was formal confirmation that such cooperation had been established in the region.
Protection of the environment is, of course, one of the EU’s top priorities, including conservation of natural resources through more efficient usage and consideration of the environmental aspects of all relevant policies. Germany, Portugal and Slovenia had already confirmed that protection of the environment would be among the main concerns of their common 18-month Presidency Programme. In particular, the three countries agreed to promote and implement measures to halt biodiversity loss by 2010 and beyond. Indeed, protection and the sustainable use of biodiversity was at the top of the joint presidency agenda for the environment. The 9th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity to be held in Germany in May this year will be an important milestone in this process.
Further development of the European Climate Change Programme, and its mitigation measures across sectors, is also of the utmost importance. This will be essential to achieve a balanced and fair regime to combat climate change post-2012 in order to meet the EU's objective of limiting global temperature rises to 2o Celsius above pre industrial levels. In global terms, the EU is currently taking a leading role on climate change. It should preserve and reinforce this role and, based on the conclusions of the UN climate conference held last December in Bali, further involve partners from other parts of the world. The EU alone cannot halt the global trend in greenhouse gas emissions; yet it can and must set an example to the world and be the driving force behind international action.
While the EU is united at world climate talks, there are substantial differences among the member states regarding their starting points and their investment capabilities to combat global warming. So The Slovenian presidency shall strive for a fair agreement within the EU about binding goals for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The EU’s climate-energy package is one of the most important legislative proposals in the pipeline and its early adoption ranks highly as an objective for the entire Union. An effective legal basis and proper implementation of the climate-energy package would promote sustainability and cost effectiveness, and also stimulate innovation and technological development. In other words, the Slovenian presidency is tackling the climate challenge not only as a problem but as an opportunity as well.
In the past, Europe appeared to be deluding itself that natural disasters only happened in other, mostly developing parts of the world. Recent severe floods, droughts, extreme temperatures and other intense weather patterns across Europe put paid to all that. Now the words of warning about the interdependence of our world, not least in Europe, no longer sound like simple slogans to be trotted out on occasions. Slovenia shall, therefore, apply itself to the task of further raising Europe’s awareness of the needs of planet earth and our own environment.
In some ways, the position of Slovenia within the EU resembles the position of the EU in the world. Neither can provide solutions on their own, but each can be the motivating and catalysing force that accelerates broader action. Both Slovenia and Europe have the spirit and the energy to make that move.
This section is sponsored by the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning of the Republic of Slovenia