The Hungarian parliament has passed a law on climate protection.
Following the parliamentary vote, thanks to the government’s strategies, Hungary may achieve climate neutrality gradually by 2050 without endangering economic growth or burdening Hungarian households.
Péter Kaderják, State Secretary at the Innovation and Technology ministry, said the country is now poised to outperform its commitments on cutting greenhouse gas emissions in transport, waste management, agriculture and building energy by 2030.
According to MTI, Kaderják said Hungary’s achievements in climate protection over the past thirty years show that economic growth, environmental protection and energy security are reconcilable goals, citing data from 2018, when Hungary managed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 0.9 percent while maintaining economic growth of 5.1 percent.
The state secretary said Hungary supports the European Union’s objective of achieving full climate neutrality by 2050, he said. But the emphasis should be on making big polluters pay the costs of a climate neutral economy and money should not be taken away from cohesion funds for that purpose, thereby depriving poorer countries of funding.
Kaderják said the new legislation showed the government’s readiness to take action against climate change. Other measures in the field include this year’s energy and climate policy strategy and the climate and a nature-protection action plan announced by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in the spring.
Hungary’s climate and nature-protection action plan allocates HUF 32 billion (EUR 92.6m) to SME’s transitioning to sustainable energy production. It also plans to raise the capacity of solar plants six-fold, and supports the distribution and use of cheap electric cars. From 2022, only e-buses will be newly deployed to city transport, he added. The government aims to make 90 percent of Hungarian electricity production carbon free by 2030, by using mostly nuclear and solar energy, he said.