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EUROPE AND THE COMMONWEALTH OF
INDEPENDENT STATES
HUNGARY
MDG7
Progress Towards Environmental Sustainability
While severe environmental problems developed in Hungary during the
period of the previous regime, economic restructuring during the 1990s brought about positive change. These
structural changes brought about a significant decrease in the activity of heavily polluting sectors and in pollution
levels, and other economic reforms produced immediate and positive environmental changes. Pollution resulting
from large-scale production, socialist industries that used obsolete technologies and high quantities of energy,
such as power stations, mining and the chemical industry, shrank dramatically. Raw materials and energy use in the
economy decreased, and in the subsequent economic upswing, technological progress made the introduction of environment-friendly
technologies possible.
As a result, the emission of ozone-depleting substances such as sulphur-dioxide, nitrogen-oxides and greenhouse gases, has
decreased on the whole, and the condition of surface waters has improved as well. This is despite the fact that industrial production
in 2003 was significantly larger than in 1999.
In Hungary, the proportion of households in small villages with no potable, running water dropped by more than half, from 30% to
12% between 1990 and 2002. During the same period, the ratio of households connected to a waste collection system increased
significantly. A change is most noticeable in small villages where, in 1992, this ratio was 27% and then grew to 80% in 2002. Even
in 2002, only 23% of small village households had public sewer systems.
QUICK FACTS
Total UNDP-GEF and Co-Finance: $13,209,700
Total UNDP and Co-Finance: $455,000
Total: $13,664,700
AUSTRIA
SLOVENIA
CROATIA
SLOVAKIA
Gyor
Budapest
HUNGARY
Szeged
Pecs
SERBIA AND
MONTENEGRO
UKRAINE
Debrecen
ROMANIA
At the same time, however, the changes of the past decade also carry
certain risks in terms of environmental pollution.These include significantly
increased motor traffic on public roads, which has now
become the foremost cause of urban pollution. Yet, especially now
and within the context of accession to the EU, environmental aspects
of sustainable development are becoming an ever more integral part
of Hungarian economic and social development policies. 1
Public Sector Energy Efficiency Programme 2
SPOTLIGHT
Hungary has undergone a comprehensive political and economic transition, from a centrally planned to a market economy.
Fundamental changes in the institutions and the structure of the economy have gradually brought about the conditions necessary
for sustainable economic growth. However, until recently inefficient use of energy continued to be a problem. Energy consumption
per volume heated was 20-30% higher than the typical value for EU member states with similar climates. One of the main
barriers to change was insufficient awareness of the importance of energy efficiency.
In 2000, with funding from the GEF, UNDP and the Government launched a 6-year Public Sector Energy Efficiency Programme to
improve energy efficiency in public sector facilities, including schools, hospitals and other public buildings.The project’s total investment
was US$ 17.7 million, with US$ 4.2 million from the GEF and the rest from the Hungarian government and private investors. A
national energy efficiency agency,called the Energy Centre,was established by government decree in 2000,with the aim of addressing
incentive barriers to energy efficiency, and to assist in identifying, developing, managing, and financing energy efficiency projects.
The Centre's activities range from implementation of energy efficiency measures identified in the Energy Saving Programme,
to operation of a nation-wide energy statistical system, and from participation in the development of national energy policy, to conducting
energy management training for representatives of Hungarian municipalities.
The project has achieved improved awareness of the importance of energy efficiency by increasing the number and quality of
municipal energy managers. During the first quarter of 2005, 15 new feasibility studies and two energy audit applications were
CLIMATE
received from a total of 85 municipal institutions. Training activities have
CHANGE
strengthened the knowledge base of local energy managers
on energy efficiency management techniques and technologies, which has improved identification of investment projects
and low-cost opportunities.
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