NEWS

Prime Minister Pahor receives representatives of Focus Association for Sustainable Development: “Slovenia, too, will be going green.”

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, today received representatives of the Focus Association for Sustainable Development, who handed him a petition calling for a commitment to efficient use of energy at the EU level. As a supporter of sustainable development, Prime Minister Pahor said: “If we want to increase the use of renewable energy, we have to become more flexible in this respect and pay more attention to the testing of new technologies.” He has also pointed out that Slovenia does not have as many financial resources to be spent on basic research as Germany or France; but will all the same definitely go green.

   

In his meeting with the environmentalists, the Prime Minister stressed that at the moment Slovenia’s consumption of energy continued to rise on a day-to-day basis and that our energy efficiency was poor: “Therefore, the Government has been working on some successful projects with emphasis on updating the energy plan.” Prime Minister Pahor drew attention to basic questions which are to be elaborated in details, specifically our attitude towards nuclear power, the use of the only fossil fuel, lignite and the Šoštanj Thermal Power Plant: “We have to decide if we are willing to increase the resources for renewables, such as windmills, photovoltaics. If we do not produce our own energy, we will be forced to import it, being aware that the latter will become more expensive and unreliable."

   

The Head of Focus, Lidija Živčič, agreed with the Prime Minister and his words regarding the current situation, adding that, precisely for this reason, we have to set binding targets to control the increase of energy consumption or to reverse the trend. She said that she was committed to a vision of the future, in which energy needs are met in a sustainable way. The representatives of Focus also pointed out that rational and efficient use of energy was to play a key role in the preparation of the national energy programme.