Climate change

3.0

CO₂-emissions have been declining since the time of the regime change; the carbon intensity of the economy is developing in a positive direction. On the whole, the strategies for climate protection were created in previous years, but no substantial measures have been taken. The Green Investment Scheme is run without transparency. As a consequence of the government's preferences,the use of renewable energy sources declined even compared to relatively low previous levels. The climate of the region is slowly warming. The amount of precipitation is not changing, its distribution is. No apparent action seems to be taken to prepare for these changes.

3.5

Greenhouse gas emissions

GHG emissions fell back after the regime change, largely due to the transformation of the energy sector. Emissions of other GHGs have slightly increased. From among the sectors of the national economy, it is only transport emissions that have risen.

Changes in climate

Global temperatures have been rising for over 110 years. On a national scale, no unambiguous trend can be identified in terms of changing patterns of precipitation levels. Approaching the present moment, the average number of rainy days has decreased nationally, while the number of days with precipitation exceeding 20 millimetres shows a slight increase. The length of dry periods has increased significantly since the beginning of the 20th century. Precipitation tends to fall in the form of increasingly short periods of intense downpours. A reduction in the number of frosty days and an increase in days of heat both indicate a warming trend. Extremely hot weather conditions have conspicuously become more and more frequent since the eighties.

2.5

Measures for climate protection

In 2008, Parliament adopted the National Climate Change Strategy (NCCS) on decreasing domestic greenhouse gas emissions.

In 2013, the National Adaptation Centre has carried out a review of the NCCS, and developed the draft of the second National Climate Change Strategy (NCCS-2) based on the results. The NCCS-2 contains the National Decarbonisation Roadmap defining the objectives, priorities and directions for action to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases for the period up to 2050.

The National Adaptation Strategy is also embedded in the document. The conceptual framework for adaptation and preparation cover the situation, risks and the possible courses of action related to climate security in the fields of water management, rural development, health, energy, tourism and other sectors.

In the field of emissions trading, Hungary has significant amount of extra allowances. Based on the quota agreements, revenues generated from the sale of the Kyoto units shall be used for climate protection within the framework of the Green Investment Scheme (GIS). There used to be a transparent practice of quota sales under a previous government in 2009, with revenues used for the financing of programs for isolating residential blocks, improvements in energy use, the replacement of lightbulbs etc. Since 2010, no official information has been made available concerning the GIS.

3.0

Climate effect of transportation

Improvement is obvious in the case of new vehicles, but it was only the economic crisis that could break the overall increase in emissions from the transport sector.