The Hungarian government opposes easing climate rules for transport and buildings!
EU Member States, including Hungary, are working in many ways to prevent an impending climate catastrophe. The key in this endeavor is to stop the loading of the atmosphere with greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide. The measures and regulations for the reduction must be as fitting to the source of the various emissions as much as possible. This is reflected in the fact that large emitters, such as thermal power plants, steel and cement producers, have an incentive to reduce carbon emissions through the EU’s Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS), in other sectors including transport and domestic heating, the incentive is the Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR) as a task for the individual Member States. They must promote, among other things, the energy modernization of buildings and the greening of agriculture. Transport is more complex in this respect, as EU regulations ensure a steady reduction in the specific CO2 emissions of new vehicles, but it is up to the Member States how they treat the fuel composition, and the share of renewable energy sources such as biomass, waste oil recycling or the good technical condition of the vehicles, as well as the removal of old, obsolete, overused vehicles from the market.
The ESR deals with the heating of buildings and the reduction of agricultural and transport emissions in the Member States. This complex system is considered appropriate by environmental organizations, which is why they have their voices heard when the idea of change came up in the European Commission. In particular, the Commission proposes to include the trade of diesel and petrol in the ETS. Such a change is dangerous because it could upset efforts for the limitation of the specific emissions of new cars and make it more difficult to introduce other financial measures, which are the most important means of eliminating fossil fuels driven models from supply in time, by 2035 at the latest – the sooner the better.
Since the change is in a regulation process where member states can have a say, the Clean Air Action Group wrote to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán asking the Hungarian government to support the uphold of the current system.
Attila Steiner, Secretary of State for the Development of the Circular Economy, Energy and Climate Policy of the Ministry of Innovation and Technology, sent a reassuring response (English translation on the 3rd page). The answer states: “The position taken by the Hungarian Government is in line with your proposal, namely that the three current pillars (EU ETS, ESR and land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF)) must be maintained. There is no need to radically restructure these pillars or to repeal any of them. At the European Council meeting of 10-11 December 2020, a decision was made to raise the EU emissions reduction target for 2030. In light of this, it is also expected that the objectives of the three pillars will be raised as well. On how to implement the raised 2030 emission reduction target, the European Council plans to provide further guidance in the first half of 2021, in particular on the future of the ESR. During this negotiation, our country will continue support the maintaining of the ESR.”
Hungary will certainly not be left alone on the issue in the European Council, and it is even likely that the majority of Member States will stand by the current system.
Translated by Lakos Gábor