Emission and energy use

The 2050 climate target of net-zero emissions is an EU commitment that Hungary has enshrined in law.

We have seven years left to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, according to the IPCC Working Group 3 report. We have all the tools we need to avoid climate disaster; we just need to use them. 

According to a recent McKinsey study (2022) and related implementation pathway, Hungary could reduce emissions by 55-60 percent by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050, while increasing its energy security.
The cost-optimal decarbonisation of Hungary is expected to require additional capital investment (CAPEX) of €150-200 billion by 2050.

The main goals defined in Vision 2050:

  • Defining, planning and financing the transformation of the net zero, nature positive and fair energy system.

  • Encouraging investments to be organized in a smart, flexible and digitized network that focuses on priority value chains such as the intersection of e-mobility and the built environment.

  • Accelerating low-carbon hydrogen-, renewable energy- and renewable heat solutions.

  • Catalyzing decarbonisation with sustainable electrification solutions at the nexus of electricity networks, mobility and buildings, in collaboration with the Energy and Built Environment pathways.

  • Pilot carbon accounting methods for the automotive value chain as part of the Carbon Transparency Project.

  • Creating capacity and tools for data sharing of sustainable urban mobility

Barriers and enablers defined with our experts’ involvement:

BARRIERS (TOP3)

  • There has been no improvement in the energy mix. GHGs are expected to increase until 2040 in consequence of the current lack of consistency or holistic strategy.

  • Agriculture and SMEs are lagging further behind in terms of decarbonisation efforts, and the lack of reliable and comparable data is an additional constraint

  • The area of mobility is associated with technological, technical, and accessibility barriers, and pricing does not reflect real social and environmental impacts.

ENABLERS (TOP3)

  • Most emissions are related to households. Various pieces of research and programs are helping raise awareness (Energy Citizenship, EU Household Savings Recommendation – Playing my part, 1.5-Degree Lifestyles program). This is clearly necessary because the lack of public energy awareness is partly due to the persistent distortionary effect of controlled market prices.

  • The first corporate long-term Power Purchase Agreements (long-term PPAs) are also being concluded in Hungary: based on them, large companies will be able to commission renewable power plants to satisfy their own consumption needs with the help of an energy supplier which can implement and operate the investments.
    They can then conclude long-term PPAs for the entire lifetime of the plants. Increasingly cheap solar energy and simultaneously rising energy prices will increase uptake of this option in Hungary, alongside onsite generation and the purchase of green electricity.

  • Corporate stakeholders are increasingly open to nature-based solutions (land-use change and silviculture), in addition to making emission reductions.