During his address at the Planet Budapest 2021 sustainability expo, President János Áder highlighted Hungary as one of ten European Union countries to have reduced carbon-dioxide emissions by over 30 percent since 1990.
According to the president, 70 percent of Hungary’s electricity is carbon-emissions free, while the country has doubled its woodlands in the past 100 years. The world’s most developed countries “may have similar indicators”, he added. Concerning Hungary’s contribution to common goals, President Áder said the country will shut down its sole remaining coal-based power plant between 2025 and 2030, reducing Hungary’s carbon emissions by a further 10 percent. By 2050, the country will have increased its wooded areas from the current 22 percent to at least 27 percent, he said, adding that the capacity of solar plants will have doubled from the current 3,000MW by 2030, while all municipal transport buses will be electric. The government has also set the goal of not leaving any sewage untreated by 2030, he said. The president also noted the recently opened Mura-Dráva-Duna Biosphere Reserve of 1 million hectares, set up in cooperation with 5 neighboring countries, as well as the introduction of sustainable development as a subject in Hungarian secondary schools.
Photo credit: MTI