Climate protection is a top priority also in Hungary, and in actual fact, this topic is much more important than to allow it to be in the crossfire of political battles, Government Spokesperson Alexandra Szentkirályi said on Kossuth Radio’s programme ‘Sunday Paper’.

The spokesperson stressed that the eight-point climate and nature protection action plan which the government has adopted is a plan package involving a great many tasks.

“I fail to see any point in the action plan that anyone who feels responsible for their country and wants to do something for climate and nature would disagree with,” she said, adding that the action plan contains points such as promoting the planting of trees and forests, the fight against illegal waste disposal sites and the banning of single-use plastics.

She said the government’s goals include increasing the percentage of areas covered with forests from 21 per cent to 27 per cent in the next 10 years. At the same time, they also agreed to plant 10 trees for every new-born baby which means approximately one million trees annually.

At the same time, they also support the wider use of solar and nuclear energy as we need these two clean energy sources in order to stop the prices of household energy and food from increasing in the future.

Ms. Szentkirályi highlighted that they would like to create an environment which is beautiful and healthy. The government is committed to these goals, and therefore also expects large foreign and multinational companies to take part in the struggle. At the same time, in the case of small and medium-sized businesses the government will support the wider use of renewable energy sources with HUF 32 billion.

Regarding the Mátra Power Plant, she said the plant will gradually change over to an increasingly environmentally friendly model.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)