Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Hungary unveils 'Christian democratic'-based climate strategy
Budapest, Jan 16 (AFP) Jan 16, 2020
Hungary unveiled a climate change strategy Thursday that has been described by Prime Minister Viktor Orban as a "Christian democratic" approach to tackling global warming.

Published on the government's website, the National Energy and Climate Plan sets out targets including 90 percent carbon-neutral electricity production by 2030, mostly from nuclear and solar energy.

Orban said last week the strategy was "Christian democratic-based" -- a label which he often uses for his policies, including his fierce opposition to immigration from Muslim countries.

Critics have described the latter stance as far-right and nativist.

Orban told reporters at a press conference last week that "the protection of the created environment and of nature just on a biblical basis is an especially Christian democratic policy".

"Conserving nature for our children and grandchildren can be imagined as conserving something that was created by God," Peter Kaderjak, a state secretary for the environment, told AFP afterwards.

"It's a general principle but the strategy's concrete objective is to create a clean sustainable country where you can have a good life," said Kaderjak.

The strategy cements a recent change of tone by Orban and his ruling Fidesz party, whose politicians have often seemed ambivalent on climate change.

Last year one of Orban's senior ministers called Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg a "sick child" and her street movement "repellent" to ordinary Hungarians.

Pro-Orban media commentators also regularly cast doubt on the link between human-induced global warming and extreme weather events.

"Orban doesn't want climate change to be solely a leftist topic, either in Hungary or in Europe," Agoston Mraz, an analyst with the Nezopont Institute in Budapest, told AFP Thursday.

"He is trying to build up a conservative right-wing green politics as a counterbalance," said Mraz.

After initially vetoing the EU's carbon neutrality goal for 2050, Orban signed up last month after securing a concession from Brussels over its reliance on nuclear energy.

An upcoming climate action plan will include pledges to clean up rivers, ban illegal rubbish dumping, and equip all cities with electric buses by 2022, said Orban.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Rare Trans Neptunian Object Reveals Unexpected Orbital Dance with Neptune
7 Must-Read Astronautics Books for Future Aerospace Engineers
York to Acquire Operations to Boost Ground Connectivity and Mission Delivery

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Framatome opens advanced additive manufacturing hub in France
Framatome to supply nuclear fuel for Barakah plant boosting UAE energy security
Solestial to Accelerate Space Solar Array Production with $12M SpaceWERX Contract

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Germany seeks US guarantee before sending Patriots to Ukraine
Space Force general to oversee U.S. 'Golden Dome' missile shield
China says raised 'solemn representations' with EU over Russia sanctions

24/7 News Coverage
Alien life clues may emerge from deep sea volcanic vents on Earth
ICJ to hand down watershed climate opinion
Japan's Hokkaido sizzles as heat stroke alerts issued


All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.