Energy and Climate Change: The Role of Business and Government - How to Define a Joint Operational Approach?

On the 18th of November 2008, the Royal Norwegian Embassy in partnership with the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) and the Hungarian Business Leaders’ Forum hosted a multi-stakeholder seminar on energy and climate change. Presentations of the government and business representatives focused on possibilities of a joint approach related to energy conservation and renewable technologies aiming at CO₂ emission reduction.

Norway started taking global warming seriously quite early with the adoption of a CO2-tax in 1991. Since then, a range of additional policy instruments have been implemented to reduce domestic greenhouse gas emissions. Today, as much as 70 per cent of Norwegian greenhouse gas emissions are covered by economic instruments setting a price on carbon. In 2007, the Government of Norway came to an agreement with the opposition parties on the further development of Norwegian climate policy. This agreement implies that more than three-quarters of the members of the Norwegian Parliament support an ambitious climate change policy: Norway intends to cut the global emissions equivalent to 100 percent of its own emissions by 2030. This way, Norway will become a carbon neutral nation. Norway will undertake to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of 30% of its own 1990 emissions by 2020, while strengthening its Kyoto commitment by 10 percentage points, corresponding to nine per cent below the 1990 level.

The Government has resolved to contribute to emission reductions in developing countries and in rapidly growing economies as well. This strategic approach has provided the basis for the Hungarian seminar.

The event was opened by H.E. Ms. Siri Ellen Sletner, who emphasized the efforts of the government against climate change on the on hand, and the financial support of Norway through the EEA Grant Mechanism on the other hand, the latter boasting projects like the new Zero Emission Conference Center of the REC.

Mr. Kalman Katona, President of the Environmental Committee of the Hungarian Parliament emphasized the establishment of the Office of the Ombudsman for Future Generations, commonly referred to as “the Green Ombudsman”, and the Committee on Sustainable Development as path-setting examples of working towards a sustainable society. Over the past years, Hungary has become increasingly successful in energy production and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. While there are significant problems in the field of CO2 trade in Hungary, the EU market is far from being transparent, too. The goal is to channel the profits of this trade back to renewable energy resources.

Mr. Katona mentioned the example of two dozens of people recently having discussed a topic by the light of some 6000 lamps in the Hungarian Parliament – in a sharp contrast to the unique properties of the New Zero Emission Conference Center of the REC.

The contributions of Dr. Miklós Poós, Director, Energy Department, Ministry of Transport, Telecommunication and Energy and Dr. Tibor Faragó, Director General, Strategy Department, Ministry of Environment and Water, offered a brief summary of the Hungarian energy policy including the potential sectors for substantial energy conservation results and the challenges of the new global climate change cooperation, to be signed in Copenhagen in 2009.

Presentations of the business sector introduced technologies that can be also part of the solutions like the carbon capture technology of StatoilHydro or the monitoring and reporting system of Emisoft. Speeches by Hungarian companies such as Pannon GSM and Holcim Zrt. reported on their efforts in the fields of climate change and sustainability.