Analysis

Hungary to phase out coal by 2030

Hungary is planning to phase out coal-fired electricity generation by 2030 to help reduce emissions and tackle climate change.

“Hungary will increase its solar power capacity ten times by 2030. It will stop producing energy from coal while expanding production of nuclear power plants,” President János Áder said on September 24 at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York. “Thanks to the combined effect of these three measures, 90 per cent of Hungary’s electricity production will be carbon-free by 2030 and not by 2050.”

Hungary has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by 32 per cent since 1990, with per capita emissions among the lowest in the industrialised countries.

“We will also improve the energy efficiency of our buildings by at least 30 per cent by 2050,” President Áder continued. “And, by 2030, we will use only electric buses in our cities.”

Since the Paris Agreement of 2015, emissions worldwide have increased by 2.1 per cent.