Ljubljana - The use of energy for heating has been decreasing in Slovenia in recent years, the Statistics Office (SURS) said ahead of the European Sustainable Development Week staring on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the shares of zero-emission vehicles and land used for organic farming is rising.

In 2019, an average Slovenian citizen used 13.3 gigajoules of energy for heating their home, which is 32% less than in 2010, SURS said, noting that this also depended on the temperatures.

In the EU, the average use per inhabitant was 14.7 gigajoules, with the lowest recorded on Malta (1.5 gigajoule) and the highest in Finland (28.2 gigajoules).

The share of Slovenians who cannot afford suitable heating is also decreasing. It fell from 2.8% in 2020 to 1.7% in 2021, while it was the highest in the last decade in 2012, at 6.1%.

Also encouraging is the data on zero-emission vehicles, which seem to be increasingly popular. They include electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Their share among all registered vehicles increased from 0.8% in 2019 to 3.1% in 2020.

In the EU, this share was even higher, at 5.3% - the highest in the Netherlands (20.2%) and the lowest in Cyprus (0.4%).

Organic farming is also on the rise. In Slovenia, the share of agricultural land used for environmentally-friendly farming or in the process of this transformation rose by 3.9 percentage points in a decade to 10.3% in 2020.

The EU average is slightly lower, at 9.1%. The most organic country is Austria (25.7%) and the least Malta (0.6%).

Still, 744 years of life per 100,000 inhabitants were lost in Slovenia in 2019 due to exposure to PM2.5 particles.

The figure compares to 762 years for the EU, with the highest exposure recorded in Bulgaria (1,606 years) and the lowest in Sweden (258 years).

A transition to a climate neutral economy and society will be possible only with comprehensive measures and notable investment, especially in research and development.

In Slovenia, gross spending on research and development reached 2.2% of GDP in 2020, which is slightly under the EU average of 2.3%. In 2012 and 2013, the share was at 2.6%.

Activities promoting sustainable development and raising awareness of climate issues as part of the European Sustainable Development Week will be held until Monday.