Slovenian President urges Kenyans to champion environmental protection

Slovenia President Nataša Pirc Musar has urged Kenyans to do everything in their power to conserve the environment, warning that the climate crisis is escalating at an alarming rate.

Speaking on Monday during her visit to Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) main campus in Juja, Kiambu county, as part of her ongoing state visit to Kenya, President Musar emphasised that climate change knows no borders and is affecting even regions previously thought immune.

“Today, we are witnessing hurricanes and tornadoes in countries like Germany—places that have never experienced such extreme weather before,” she said.

“Just a year and a half ago, Slovenia suffered unprecedented flooding that affected nearly two-thirds of our territory. We had never seen anything like it.”

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Addressing dignitaries, staff, and students at the JKUAT assembly hall, Musar called for additional efforts on climate action, particularly those capable of cushioning developing countries from the vagaries of climate change.

The Slovenian leader called on young people to proactively deploy their knowledge and experience to innovate, as part of being part of the change they all yearn for.

She added that Slovenia was among the few countries in the world that now look at climate change as a human rights issue.

The President also inaugurated a climate change adaptation unit, dubbed Conduit@Empathy, that comprises satellite and digital technologies for human and planet-friendly management of water, environment, and climate actions.

The climate hub is a joint initiative between JHUB Africa (an innovation and technology hub based at JKUAT) and Slovenia’s SPACE-SI (Centre of Excellence for Space Sciences and Technologies).

“It is an ambitious initiative to showcase how societies can leverage digital technologies to analyse conditions obtaining in river basin systems, including water quality, state of vegetation, urban infrastructure, as well as maritime traffic,” Musar said.

She called on the global community to recognize the urgency of preserving the planet, stressing, “We have only one Earth. It is our shared obligation to protect it for ourselves and future generations.”

She also highlighted the disparity in global emissions, noting that G20 countries are responsible for 80% of carbon dioxide emissions. Among them are four major European countries—Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Italy.

In contrast, Africa contributes only about 6%, with countries like Slovenia having even lower emissions.

Kiambu County Governor Kimani Wamatangi lauded the inauguration of the climate hub at JKUAT, noting that the university had played a key role in disseminating key technologies to the local community, besides producing quality human capital for the county and country at large.

JKUAT Vice Chancellor, Prof Victoria Wambui Ngumi, noted that the current world faces many complex, interwoven challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and growing inequalities. As a solutions-oriented university, Prof. Ngumi added that JKUAT, through JHUB-Africa, was advancing Kenya’s role in data-driven climate resilience and environmental stewardship.

Calling the Slovenia-Kenya partnership a shining example of what people-to-people diplomacy looks like in the 21st Century, Prof. Ngumi said that JKUAT will host community training, run national seminars, support county-level integration, and co-create ecosystem services in partnership with agencies.

Dr Beatrice Inyangala, Principal Secretary, State Department for Higher Education and Research, Ministry of Education, said that the inauguration of the Conduit@Empathy represents the collective will to make data accessible, to infuse science with human meaning, and to connect technological tools with social purpose.

Dr Stephen Jackson, the UN Resident Coordinator in Kenya, stated that the World Food Programme is partnering with Slovenia to build resilient communities through beekeeping initiatives that also help restore degraded ecosystems.

The event was also attended by Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, Dr Deborah Barasa; European Union envoy to Kenya, Henriette Geiger; Kiambu Women Representative, Anne Wamuratha; WFP Country Director, Lauren Landis, and JKUAT Council members.