13 / 287
[
] 14
Statement by Dr Danilo Türk, President of the Republic of Slovenia
Slovenia is by no means immune to the problems of climate change, despite its favourable geographical
location between the Alps, Mediterranean and Pannonian Basin. During the last three decades global
warming has brought us frequent droughts and heat waves. In the autumn of 2007 Slovenia suffered
severe flash floods, while in the summer of 2008 we were hit by devastating storms. Unfortunately, we
can expect similar events during 2009.
Agriculture is particularly affected by these increasingly frequent, extreme climate events. Therefore our
primary focus in the climate change adaptation process is to prepare an adaptation strategy for agriculture.
Indeed, Slovenia took an active role to this by accepting responsibility for the Drought Management Centre for
Southeastern Europe.
The climate is changing much faster than the habits of the people that live on this planet, and as such we
need to fundamentally shift our attitude towards the environment. To do this, first of all, we have to truly
appreciate that the environment cannot be taken for granted.
I believe that if the world takes the necessary steps in a prompt fashion – with the richer countries
taking responsibility and leading the way – we can tackle climate change successfully. Although it is not
an easy task, I am convinced that if we unify our collective strengths and resources we can achieve the
common goal of ensuring that our planet is a decent place to live – not only for ourselves, but also for
our children. The EU countries have to lead the way, but it is crucial that everybody participates – our
responsibilities are differentiated, but at the same time shared.
Dr Danilo Türk
President of the Republic of Slovenia