Implementation of climate change strategies in Hungary

Document Type : Review papers

Authors

1 Department of Landscape Protection and Environmental Geography, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

2 Department of Computer Graphics and Image Processing,Faculty of Informatics, University of Debrecen, Hungary

Abstract

According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its implementation framework, Hungary is obligated to compile a National Climate Change Strategy (NCCS). The first and the reviewed version (NCCS-2) were completed for the period of 2008-2025 and 2017-2030, respectively, with an outlook until 2050. The objectives of the UN and the EU determine the planning and interventional tasks and they are in accordance with them. As part of the Environmental and Energy Efficiency Operative Program (EEEOP), the European Union and Hungary support the development of county-level and local climate strategies. Since for the adaptation to be successful, the collaboration between different planning levels is of paramount importance, in our study we aim to investigate how well the documents compiled in the Hungarian planning levels are integrated and whether they are in accordance with the international objectives. Furthermore, we also investigate the degree to which the compiled strategies focus on locally arising problems. The county-level climate strategies have been already completed in the framework of the EEEOP tender, while the development of strategies for the settlements is currently in progress. The county-level climate strategies completely cover the national objectives, which are in accordance with the objectives of the EU. The county-level climate strategies contain specific objectives regarding the given county, depending on how the climate change is expected to impact the region, as well as the economic, social and natural attributes of the counties.

Keywords