NEWS

Prime Minister Janez Janša welcomes initiative encouraging personal responsibility

The Slovenian Prime Minister, Janez Janša, welcomes the World Wide Fund for Nature's (WWF) "Earth Hour" initiative. It is commendable that an increasing number of people join the campaign every year, including municipalities, companies and organisations. The Government is aware that, in order to achieve systemic changes, it is important to encourage the activities of every person. Energy saving is part of sustainable development, which is one of Europe's fundamental political orientations. However, the latest EU Sustainable Development Report for 2011 indicates that there is still a great deal of untapped energy efficiency potential in households. We are obviously still not sufficiently aware that by switching off lights, we can contribute to reducing CO2 emissions and electricity bills. Our ancestors did so because energy was precious and its supply restricted. Today, the supply is taken for granted and is indispensable, and so these initiatives are also important for raising awareness of other acts through which we, as individuals, can do more to improve the quality of the environment and our own health – by separating waste at home, eating locally sourced produce, riding a bike, using public transport, etc.

 

At 8.30 p.m. on Saturday, 31 March 2012, no events are planned to take place in the premises of the Slovenian Government, therefore the lights in the majority of its offices will be switched off; through this we will support the initiative at a symbolic level. Unfortunately, for security reasons and to ensure the smooth running of certain services, we cannot switch off electricity completely in all Government premises. However, the Prime Minister calls on all public sector employees to take part in the "Earth Hour" project and thereby contribute to raising awareness of this issue.