Environment Minister Tomas Taraba Would Be Cautious in Preparing Climate Law

Bratislava, January 8 (TASR) - Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee) has said in an interview with TASR that he would be cautious in preparing a climate law and would prefer a broad discussion on such a law, emphasising that it must align with industry's needs. "It's one thing is to pass laws, but another thing is that each such law has a huge impact on industry, life, and so on. It may make sense from a marketing perspective to create such a law. Another issue is the strength of the law and how it will be implemented," said Taraba. He argued that if the law is disconnected from reality and industry, it will cause enormous costs. According to him, the result will be that the law won't be about air quality, but about taking jobs away from people. In this context, he pointed to Slovak industry, which is "on its knees" in many areas. "If we overwhelm industry, which is struggling with global competition, with more such demands, we'll have to ask ourselves whether anyone can bear it," said Taraba. He added that some factories may close and move a few kilometres outside the European Union after a change in the production process. From there they could then import their products into the European market. In 2023, the Environment Ministry presented Slovakia's first climate law, which included the idea of climate lawsuits against the state and the creation of a climate council to oversee the implementation of climate plans. The goal was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030 when compared to 1990 levels. lin/df