In his statement, Mesic reaffirmed Croatia's dedication to efforts that were being taken and to those that would be taken in the future with a view to effectively protecting nature and curbing global warming.
Mesic said that although world countries, in the interest of their citizens and their future, must not give up development and everything serving development, they must do everything in their power to preserve the environment as the foundation of man's existence.
Mesic underlined the need to strike the necessary, acceptable and realistic balance between insisting on development on the one and environmental protection on the other hand. He said this balance must be the foundation of every move Croatia took in the economy, including energetics.
Environmental protection will remain among the government's priorities and the government will do its utmost to provide Croatians with the best and safest environment possible, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said at a government session.
Renewable energy sources are one of the basic conditions for fighting global warming, he said, calling on Croatian scientists and experts to step up the use of new technologies in both energy production and consumption.
Sanader recalled that his cabinet had ratified the Kyoto Protocol and passed a national environmental protection strategy.
Environmental Protection Minister Marina Matulovic-Dropulic said 500 km of gas pipelines had been built last and early this year, providing gas as the ecologically most acceptable energy source to many parts of Croatia.
She said Croatia had begun building wind farms, opened two biofuel factories and was rehabilitating more than 230 waste dumps. She also announced that the collection of medical waste would begin soon.