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Hungary does not want the European Green Agreement, the European Green Agreement, to be at the center of crisis management, because according to the current position of the government, it is “against the interests of the Hungarian people”. Balázs Schanda, Political Secretary of State of the Ministry of Innovation and Technology (ITM), gave a sentence information to Péter Ungár without any justification. The LMP Member of Parliament asked the government if Hungary would not join the initiative taken by several EU environment ministers in a joint letter.
This is the European ‘green agreement’, more specifically the management of green crises: the first is a huge but not yet detailed EU package on how and at what rate the European Union will reduce its CO2 emissions. slow down climate change and act as an exemplary “climate champion” on the international stage. This green package is a clear priority for the von der Leyen Commission, an almost political coat of arms, and despite great controversy, it has so far managed to castrate the plan in hitherto resistant Member States.
In June, in addition to the Poles, we were the main opponents of the project, but in December a consensus agreement was reached, and Budapest and Warsaw also adopted an emissions reduction program, which also requires a significant structural transformation of the economy. However, the coronavirus also made this plan uncertain. In Brussels, commission leaders wanted to promote the green deal more vigorously in early March, but at a press conference organized for that purpose, journalists were already interested in something completely different, the epidemic.
The great risk to ecological plans is, of course, the global economic crisis: while everyone tries to save the national economy and sectors and jobs fail, it is easy to relegate environmental considerations to the background; A good example of this is the crisis subsidies for the aviation and the automotive industry. in return, states don’t even ask the industry for anything, like more environmentally friendly solutions.
However, crisis management and greening don’t necessarily contradict each other, say environmental organizations, economic analysts and lobbyists, who say this is a historic time to tackle fossils with a green economic twist and create new jobs. in the green economy The EU has not stagnated either, the Commission has confirmed that the Green Agreement will continue in crisis management and, at the end of March, the Heads of State and Government of the Member States adopted a text highlighting development sustainable and sustainable development. green makeover.
In early April, environment ministers from 10 countries wrote a joint letter to the Commission urging them to spend as much as possible on environmental investment in crisis management. Since then, it has been signed by 17 of the 27, including the Germans, French, Italians, Spanish, Benelux and Scandinavians, and, in addition to our Austrians, Slovaks and Slovenes.
Péter Ungár asked the ITM minister, László Palkovics, why we did not do it and if we were planning to do it. “Hungary has been left out of the signatories and the news does not yet refer to whether the Hungarian government plans to join.” Although the Hungarian government suddenly turned green before the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic, sustainability problems were completely lost after the outbreak of the epidemic, and the green industry did not even reach the level mentioned. In view of the above, I would like to inform the Minister why the Hungarian government did not join this open letter and if it plans to sign it. “
Tamás Schanda, ITM secretary of state for politics, responded in writing on Tuesday, saying:
Because supporting the open letter goes against the interests of the Hungarian people.
The letter, signed by 17 European environment ministers, also states that the lesson from the Covid-19 crisis is that early action is key, so we should not be inactive on climate change and biodiversity loss. According to them, investment in sustainable transport, renewable energy, research and development, restoration of biodiversity and circular economy should be increased.
We must resist temptations to short-term solutions in the current crisis, which would risk the EU remaining a prisoner of the fossil economy for decades.
The most concrete proposal that Hungary rejects based on the Secretary of State’s response is for the EU to accelerate its emissions reduction plan. EU signatory ministers want the EU to cut CO 2 emissions by 50-55% by 2030, instead of the current 40% plan2 compared to base year 1990.
As a candidate for the presidency of the Popular Committee, Ursula von der Leyen asked for the same. The Green Agreement was also supported in December by the Hungarian government and the Fidesz faction in the EP. There is no independent Ministry of Environment in Hungary since 2010, ITM is responsible for climate policy. Balázs Schanda is the ITM Political Secretary of State.
(Cover image: Solar cell plant with a sunflower-shaped solar tracking system in Nagypáli, Zala County, on May 9, 2018. Photo: György Varga / MTI)
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