In Istanbul, Turkey, the last intensive preparations are underway for the 23rd Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention (COP23). Slovenia will host the 23rd meeting in December 2023 and take over the two-year presidency of the Barcelona Convention for the period 2024-2025.

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia has set out the text of the draft Act Determining Intervention Measures for Flood and Landslide Recovery of August 2023 and is sending it to the National Assembly for consideration under the urgent procedure. The adoption of the draft Act will allow for the taking of urgent and effective measures to deal with the consequences of floods and landslides.

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Robert Golob, today visited the Upper Savinja Valley as part of his working visits to the areas affected by the severe natural disaster.

Prime Minister Robert Golob, together with Minister of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning Uroš Brežan and Commander of the Civil Protection of the Republic of Slovenia Srečko Šestan, visited the areas affected by the flood in three municipalities in the Gorenjska region – Škofja Loka, Radovljica and Medvode.

At the invitation of the Alpine Convention under the Slovenian presidency, a delegation from the Andean Mountain Initiative is on a study visit to Slovenia to take the idea behind the Alpine Convention to the seven countries of the Andean Mountain Range.

Prime Minister Robert Golob, Minister of the Environment, Climate and Energy Bojan Kumer and Minister of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning Uroš Brežan visited Krško today.

The Minister for Natural Resources and Spatial Planning Uroš Brežan attended the Bled Water Festival, at which he spoke about the importance of water as a key commodity for life. Slovenia is rich in water resources, and its mission is to manage them in a comprehensive way, with the aim of protecting them and using them sustainably, thereby preserving them for future generations.

It is because of the importance of the oceans to our planet and the importance of protecting and preserving them that the United Nations has declared 8 June World Oceans Day.

Four important days dedicated to nature conservation will be celebrated shortly, i.e. World Bee Day (20 May), European Natura 2000 Day (21 May), International Day for Biological Diversity (22 May) and European Day of Parks (24 May).

The Government has adopted decree designating 411.36 hectares of the Češeniške and Prevojske gmajne area as the Češeniško Prevojske gmajne Landscape Park.

In March, the Government adopted the starting points for the preparation of proposed adjustments to the Recovery and Resilience Plan, which will, among other things, address the objectives of the REPowerEU plan to reduce dependence on Russian energy. Government representatives today discussed the starting points for the new chapter of the Slovenian Recovery and Resilience Plan with the interested public at a public consultation.

Minister of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning Uroš Brežan actively participated in the UN 2023 Water Conference, which took place in New York from 22 to 24 March 2023.

This year's World Wetlands Day, celebrated annually on 2 February, is being celebrated under the slogan: “It’s Time for Wetland Restoration!”

The Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning was the first institution in Europe to carry out the demanding task of the environmental impact assessment for the Krško Nuclear Power Plant (NEK). The environmental consent for the extension of the life span of the NEK for an additional 20 years (until 2043) was issued on 13 January 2023 and is currently being served to all parties and accessory participants and to the participating countries.

At its correspondence meeting, the Government adopted the Decree about the animal welfare intervention of the Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan 2023–2027 for Slovenia in the year 2023 and the Decree on Conditionality. It also gave its consent to the Business Plan of the Agency for Radwaste Management for 2023–2024 and concluded the Contract on the implementation of the compulsory State utility service for radioactive waste management.

At today's correspondence meeting, the Government adopted a new draft Transnational Provision of Services Act and issued an amendment to the Decree on the establishment of programmes of compulsory health insurance services.

Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. The Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity concludes with a final plenary session in Montreal.

Yesterday at COP27, Slovenia presented itself as a green, creative and smart country, active in the field of climate change and oriented towards a green transition, supported by advanced digital technologies. The government of Slovenia demonstrated excellent mutual cooperation of the Cabinet of the Prime Minister, MEST, MEDT, MFA with climate and economic diplomacy, Spirit Agency and STO.

State Secretary of the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Uroš Vajgl, and Mag. Tina Sršen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Infrastructure, addressed the participants in the presentation of the results of the Slovenian Household Energy Efficiency Survey (REUS GOS 2022).

The 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is taking place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, from 6 to 18 November. The aim of the conference is to re-energise the global ambition to scale up climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts and to mobilise adequate financing for climate action.