LMP calls for publication of government programme to fight climate change

Green opposition LMP on Thursday called on Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to publish a government programme that has been used to apply for European Union funding for the fight against climate change.

Orbán told the opening meeting of parliament’s autumn session that Hungary’s economy could achieve carbon-neutral status by 2050, deputy group leader Erzsébet Schmuck told a press conference. Orbán also said that the government had informed the European Union that the implementation of its programme to achieve this would require funding of 50,200 billion forints (EUR 152bn), she added.

LMP is skeptical about Orbán’s promise, she said.

So far, he has “promoted the interests of the German car industry and the Polish coal industry in Brussels” instead of the interests of Hungarians, she added. The government is planning to explore hydrocarbon resources and coal mines instead of supporting renewable energy, Schmuck said. Instead of turning to renewable energy, the government wants to build the “dangerous and risky” Paks 2 nuclear power station project which “will be the most expensive investment of the century,” she added.

She said she had asked Orbán in writing to study an LMP proposal for climate emergency in Hungary.

She added that she had asked him to specify which points of the proposal he would support.

In response to a question, Schmuck said Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony was planning to announce climate emergency on the level of cities whereas LMP’s proposal was for the whole of the country. LMP proposes legislation on stopping climate change, measures to catch up with strict EU targets and a ministry dedicated to climate issues, she added.

Source: MTI