President János Áder has said the year ahead could see a turning point in the fight against climate change and this opportunity must not be wasted.
The president said we are carrying a "heavy burden" and time is running out for us to find answers to the ever more pressing climate questions. He pointed out how climate change is accelerating and despite promises to the contrary, the emission of greenhouse gases increased in 2018.
According to Rmx.news, he said there has been very little progress in the three years since the Paris climate conference, and the only "success" of the United Nations conference in Katowice was that it managed to prevent the collapse of the Paris Agreement.
President Áder said we are now further away from the goal defined in Paris to keep global warming under two degrees Celsius. He said the real issue is not the condition of the atmosphere but the future of human society and civilization.
The president added that there was still hope as we have the required technological knowledge and even if at a great sacrifice, we can field the associated costs. All that is really needed is determination and courage, he said.