The story of the founding

At the end of October 2025, the Institute was contacted by the editor of Radio Trieste, Pavel Volk, who wanted to present the Institute for Climate Solutions on the radio show Eko Studio D. The first question was precisely – what was the reason for establishing the institute? Since it is an important question, it seems appropriate to state all the key reasons in a longer post – so let’s go in order!

The founder of the institute, Barbara Simonič, worked in the field of climate change within the state administration for 13 years. I started in 2010 at the Government Office for Climate Change after completing my studies at the College of Europe, which is the oldest and most reputable institution in Europe for the study of European affairs. Since most state environmental and climate legislation comes from the EU, after completing my studies at the Faculty for social sciences at University of Ljubljana, majoring in international relations, and an internship at a research institute in France, it seemed logical to continue my studies in this direction.

Today, the situation has unfortunately reversed – politics in Europe is limited by the outcome of the last (2024) elections to the European Parliament, where Eurosceptic, conservative and anti-green forces won overwhelmingly. Thus, even already adopted and approved legislation is being questioned (e.g. medium-term climate goals, ESG reporting, the abolition of the sale of vehicles with internal combustion engines). At the same time, the climate crisis is intensifying, along with the biodiversity crisis and the crisis of many exceeded planetary boundaries, all of which makes food more expensive, increases inequalities, and reduces trust in institutions that are the only ones able to act on the scale required by these challenges.

We are therefore in a deep crisis, which is primarily a crisis of values, and when we begin to overcome social restrictions and demands and act in accordance with our own values, which clearly tell people what is right and what is wrong, we will also overcome cognitive dissonance and feel better and literally breathe easier. As all psychologists say – look for easy ways and you will have a hard life, choose hard ways and you will have an easier life.

Unfortunately, people mostly still choose easy ways – it is easier to take a car and drive to the store than to take a bike, it is easier to live a seemingly cosmopolitan life in accordance with the expectations of those around you and travel every free time than to take a train, it is easier not to open up difficult topics than to talk about climate anxiety and concern about inaction, which according to research is felt by most people. That is why an institute is needed – such an organization that will open up difficult topics, and at the same time point out the right, effective and feasible solutions. Because if working in the state administration has taught me anything, it is that feasible solutions are difficult to prepare, even more difficult to adopt and implement. Recently, however, researchers have warned that the forces opposing action on climate solutions have also shifted from opposing climate science (as it is increasingly difficult to claim that the climate is not changing), raising doubts about the causes and personal attacks on scientists to opposing solutions. Some time ago we were able to watch a documentary on RTV Slovenia about the harmfulness of renewable energy sources (because discarded wind turbine blades are said to be a significant waste), opposition to electric vehicles is well known, even though they represent the most effective way to decarbonize transport, which is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Slovenia, and equally important are the discourses of delay, which ultimately have the same effect – inaction against climate change.