In a video message at the Budapest Climate Summit, President János Áder said the world is running out of time to tackle climate change, the water crisis and other environmental problems.
President Áder said atmospheric CO2 continues to rise and the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 C. is now but a dream, adding that a cap of 3 C. was now a far more realistic scenario. Citing a recent Belgian-German study, he said the number of days marked by heatwaves could multiply five-fold and droughts could more than double over the coming decades. “If we fail to act, CO2 emissions will increase by 60 percent by 2030 compared with 1990 levels. There’s plenty to do,” he said. However, the world faces other challenges as well, the president said, noting the water crisis, the loss of biodiversity, urbanisation and the challenge of transitioning to a circular economy.