Hungary’s Fourth Climate Neutrality Progress Report attempts to objectively present various emission trends during 2023, compared to the year 2022 covered in the third report, and to 2020, the year in which our legally binding 2050 climate neutrality target was adopted, as base year, thereby informing decision-makers and, in a broader sense, the entire society.
Hungary performs moderately in international climate rankings.
Hungary’s ranking has improved in the Climate Change Performance Index (45/64) and the Environmental Performance Index (46/180), but remains in the middle of the rankings. However, in terms of relative climate performance, while Hungary and the reference countries are only in the middle of the global ranking in terms of area and population, they are in the top third in terms of economic production and especially GHG emissions. This means that, in relative terms, we have a significant responsibility to tackle climate change.
GHG emissions have decreased significantly in 2023, but this reduction must be reinforced with lasting structural measures to ensure its sustainability in the long term.
Hungary’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by 9% from 2022 to 2023, exceeding the previous climate law target for 2030. Investments and behavioural changes driven by energy prices, some policy measures have contributed to the positive result, but the economic downturn and mild winter were also major factors. This decline needs to be reinforced by permanent structural measures to be sustained in the long term.
Improving sectoral performance could be measured.
Almost all sectors showed an improvement in GHG emissions between 2022 and 2023. The exception is the land use (LULUCF) sector, where carbon removals have decreased but are still relatively favourable.
A mixed picture in long-term trends can be measured.
Only three of the 11 dimensions examined (Agriculture and land use, Industry, Buildings) are on track to sufficiently support meeting the 2050 climate neutrality target. Three dimensions are making slow progress (Energy, Finance, Technology), two are stagnating (Carbon dioxide removal, Climate Governance), two are deteriorating (Transport, Lifestyle changes) and one (Just Transition) is not evaluable due to lack of data. The technology areas are pulling the green transition forward, while the socio-economic (‘soft’) dimensions are lagging behind.
Decreasing data gaps
Of the 81 indicators used for the evaluation, 30 had partial data gaps, but only 14 were of such a magnitude as to preclude evaluation. This rate (17%) represents a substantial improvement compared to previous years. The improvement in evaluability was partly due to methodological improvements and partly to the availability of new data.
A summary report can be accessed below in English.
GPC-2025_Fourth-Hungarian-Climate-Neutrality-Progress-Report-extract-in-EnglishWhile the full report in Hungarian can be accessed below: