The Clean Air Action Group

The Clean Air Action Group (CAAG) is one of the best-known environmental NGOs in Hungary. Founded in 1988 by three local green groups, it is now a national federation of 127 NGO’s. Its Experts’ Board consists of more than 100 specialists of various professions. It is open to anyone who wants to help clean up the environment.

Our main fields of activities are the following

• greening the state budget
• sustainable transport
• sustainable energy policy
• sustainable urban development
• protection of green areas in cities
• clean air in the cities
• sustainable chemical and pesticide use

The activities of CAAG include public awareness campaigns, consulting, publishing and advocacy at the local and national levels.

Some examples of our activities

• CAAG prepared a number of important studies on transport and the environment, energy issues and also economic policy, all designed to influence decision-makers and inform the public.
• CAAG is the most often cited environmental NGO in the national press. In 2010 more than 800 newspaper articles, television and radio reports appeared about its activities.
• CAAG has organized many nation-wide and local public awareness campaigns. For example it collected 20,000 signatures petitioning for better transport in Budapest and handed them to the local government, which helped to stop further deterioration of public transport. CAAG initiated and carried out together with other NGOs, trade unions and local governments a successful campaign to save the railway branch lines (about 50% of the national railway network). Since 1992 CAAG has worked out each year proposals for greening the state budget and campaigned to get them accepted by the government. A number of their proposals (e.g. the introduction of green taxes on several products) were accepted by the Parliament.
• CAAG played an important role in making the transport policy of the World Bank much more environment-friendly.
• CAAG's Information Office has helped many citizens to solve local environmental problems.

The representatives of our member organizations and experts as well as the elected officials of CAAG meet every second week to discuss current issues, to elaborate viewpoints on environmental protection, and to take action.

We are a member organization of the Climate Action Network Europe, European Environmental Bureau, European Environmental Citizens Organisation for Standardisation, European Federation for Transport and Environment, Health & Environment Alliance, International POPs Elimination Network, Pesticides Action Network – Europe, World Carfree Network. We cooperate with other international environmental organizations, like World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), A SEED Europe,  Greenpeace as well as with a number of national NGO’s in various countries.

In the past few years our activities were supported mainly by

• the Hungarian Ministry of Environment,
• Hungarian Railways,
• Sigrid Rausing Trust,
• European Climate Foundation,
• European Regional Development Fund,
• European Union's Seventh Framework Programme,
• Soot Free for the Climate Campaign.

Activities of the Clean Air Action Group for environmentally sustainable transport

The Clean Air Action Group was created in 1988 and since that time it is working for an environmentally sustainable development in Hungary and also internationally. In 1991 we created the Hungarian Traffic Club which specialises in issues of transport and environment. The Hungarian Traffic Club is a member of the European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E).

One of our main activities is advocacy. We have been pushing for 2 years for an environmental fuel tax which could be used for investing in environment-friendly transport modes. Finally, in 1992 the concerning law was accepted by the Hungarian Parliament. Now nearly 2% of the motor vehicle fuel price goes to the Central Environment Protection Fund which provides money also for railway investment.

Another example of our acitivities is the discussion over the new Transport Policy of the Hungarian Government. Finally the Government and the Parliament included into the Transport Policy practically all our proposals and the new policy is much more considerate of the environmental implications than it was intended originally. While we could not prevent also some environmentally harmful directives from getting into it, the Transport Policy at least leaves open the choice.

When the government decided to close most of the branch lines of the Hungarian Railways (nearly half of the whole railway network), we proved that closing these lines would not improve the financial situation of the railways but rather worsen it and increase the burdens of the state budget.

Of course, lobbying in the ministries and the Parliament is not enough. The public opinion must also be on our side, if we are to succeed. When we began to lobby to save the railway branch lines, we started at the same time a nation-wide campaign. We widely distributed leaflets with a letter to be signed and sent to the Prime Minister. We prepared posters which we put up — with the help of the railway trade unions — in many railway stations. We also organized forums and press conferences.

We have been fighting for years for the improvement of the suburban railways at major Hungarian cities, and especially Budapest. For example, when the Budapest municipality decided to build a verty costly new underground line, we showed that this line would not really improve transport in the city. We proved that most of the problems are caused by cars coming from the outskirts and suburbs of the capital, and therefore much better results might be achieved much cheaper by modernizing the suburban railway lines and increasing their capacity. In 1996 we organized a campaign during which we collected 20,000 signatures for better public transport, including suburban railways.

As an example of our international work, I would mention that the European Federation for Transport and Environment helped us to contact DG VII (Transport) of the European Commission in Brussels, from where we received a letter confirming that the European Union has never told and would not tell Hungary that the construction of motorways is necessary if it wants to join the EU. This helped us a lot in our fight against motorway construction in Hungary.

Another good example is our cooperation with the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy based in New York. Our common work helped to change the transport policy of the World Bank, where now environmental issues have a much higher priority than earlier.

Together our British colleagues to help revive the branch railway lines in Hungary, too. This will also help to create a useful cooperation between the railways, local authorities, business and NGOs.

András Lukács,
President of the Clean Air Action Group

Green Budget Reform Proposals for Hungary

Since 1992, the Clean Air Action Group, a national federation of Hungarian environmental organizations, together with the Trade Union of Culture each year has prepared an alternative to the official state budget bill for the following year. The purpose of these proposals is to help

• reinforce social market economy,
• accelerate economic restructuring,
• create new jobs,
• boost competitiveness of domestic labour force,
• increase the income of employees,
• improve the balance of trade,
• utilise materials and energy more efficiently,
• relieve social tensions,
• improve social welfare services,
• establish better conditions for education, culture, health and scientific research,
• improve the state of environment and health,
• prepare for EU membership.

Bearing in mind the necessity of a long-term approach, the basic criteria for the economic policy and state budget described in the proposals are the following:

1. Reducing Labour Costs

Costs of labour need to be reduced not by cutting wages in real terms, but by changing the cost structure and by improved efficiency. This way, the national economy could gain a better competitive position both in the short and the long run. The key element is to reduce the rate of social security taxes and the personal income tax. At the same time, wages should be increased in real terms through – among other measures – the proposals presented in our concrete proposals.

2. Internalizing External Costs

Activities harmful to health and the environment hit the entire society and the next generations, although consumers and producers of those harmful activities should pay for these costs. The part of the costs not borne by the consumers or the producers is called external costs. It is vital to incorporate external costs into the prices, preferably where they occur. Once these costs are included in prices, economic performance and life conditions may be improved.

3. Reducing Subsidies Harmful for the Society

Subsidies are inevitable to keep a society functioning. However, all public subsidies should be abolished that finance activities damaging people’s health and the environment.

4. Reducing Black Economy

The black economy can only be controlled by specific measures that, on the one hand, take away black revenues, and on the other, prevent revenues from being generated there.

5. Protecting the National Economy

Protection needs to be achieved in compliance with WTO guidelines; and based on that, through an export-oriented economic policy.

6. Developing Human Resources

The quality of service in education, culture, healthcare and scientific research should be improved and supported by relevant budget items.

7. Improving Social Welfare

To eliminate social tensions and invest in Hungary’s future development, social welfare services are essential. The state budget should give more support to social welfare.

8. Preparation for EU Membership

Preparations for Hungary’s EU membership need to begin with activities where adaptation is time-consuming, such as education, culture, healthcare, scientific research, environment, etc. Negotiations with the EU must prioritise Hungary’s economic interests.

9. Environmental Protection

Environmental protection offers opportunities to be fully exploited also by the help of appropriate economic instruments.

As an example here we give the concrete figures from our proposals for the budget of the year 1999 in which we propose to regroup about 18% of the Hungarian state budget.

Summary of Proposals to Increase Revenues and Reduce Expenses – based on the State Budget Bill for 1999

Summary of Proposals to Increase Revenues and Reduce Expenses
based on the State Budget Bill for 1999

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