Dóra Fazekas Carbon Market Implications for new EU - UniCredit ...

Figure 22. GHG emissions, CO2e, without removal through sinks
Source: National Inventory Report (Hungarian Meteorological Service, 2008)
A regional comparison by Deloitte (2007) reveals efficient industrial energy consumption practices
in Hungary. The study shows that to produce one unit of GDP, Hungary emits a relatively low
amount of carbon dioxide – in other words, Hungary’s carbon intensity is fair. Carbon-intensity
shows the quantity of CO2e emissions required to produce one unit of the country’s gross domestic
product. According to 2005 data, Hungarian industrial installations covered by the EU ETS emitted
233 tonnes of carbon-dioxide to produce one million USD worth of GDP (National Climate Change
Strategy, 2008). McKinsey (2008) defined another indicator; the inverse of carbon intensity, calling
it carbon productivity and showing how much GDP is produced through the emission of one tonne
of CO2e.
In their country report, Szlávik et al. (1999) point out that Hungary’s GHG emissions are significant
neither from an absolute nor a relative perspective; thus, it is not the quantity of emissions that is
the primary driving force for participation in emissions-reduction schemes. Hungary is, then,
motivated more by a desire to participate in the community effort. This country report presents the
opportunities for reducing GHG emissions in Hungary, along with their costs and methods of
realization. The authors point out that the primary means of reducing emissions is increasing energy
efficiency, both among the general population as well as in industrial sectors. Following a brief
overview of Hungary, the authors assess the state of the country’s energy sector in 1999, its national
energy policies, institutional framework as well as the effects of emissions on the environment.
They then proceed to define baseline and mitigation scenarios for Hungary’s GHG emissions in the
period 1990-2030. The results of their findings show that GHG emissions, which do not originate
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