In Budapest Minister of State for Environmental Affairs, Agrarian Development and Hungaricums at the Ministry of Agriculture Zsolt V. Németh said that “HUF 2,800 billion (EUR 8.9 billion) is available for environmental protection and conservation during the 2014-2020 programming period, 500bn more than in the previous cycle”.
At a press conference held with reference to the publication of a report entitled “Hungary’s Environmental Status 2014”, Mr. Németh said that the Government had spent a total of HU 2,300 billion (EUR 7.3 billion) on environmental protection and conservation during the 2007-2013 programming period and is planning to spend HUF 2,800 billion on improving the country’s environmental status during the ongoing 2014-2020 period.
It is in Hungary’s interests to stop climate change processes, because otherwise we must count on the spread of extreme weather phenomena, which would then have an adverse effect on the state of natural resources, waters, soils and forests, as well as on biological diversity. All of these changes bear with them complex economic and social repercussions and can effect, amongst others, the constructed environment, transport and agriculture, the Minister of State explained.
According to the comprehensive report published on Tuesday, several environmental factors have taken a positive turn in Hungary, he stressed, pointing out that in 1990, 20 per cent of Hungarian settlements had no mains water supply, while fresh drinking water is now available in every single one of the country’s settlements.
With regard to vehicle pollution emissions, the concentration of dust in the air exceeded health limits at 20-30 per cent of monitoring points in 2005-2006, while in 2010-2011 this figure was only 10 percent and by last year dust levels had fallen to such an extent that limits were not exceeded at all, he noted.
According to the report, the conservation status of species and habitats of community significance has remained stable or has further improved in recent years, Mr. Németh explained.