President in Dubai: ‘Sustainable future requires sustainable demography’

Katalin Novak called climate change one of the few issues in which world leaders shared a common understanding and were uniting their forces.

“Hungary has done its homework. We have one of the world’s most ambitious climate agendas. We have substantially reduced our CO2 emissions while increased economic productivity,” she said.

Novak said Hungary expected to achieve its renewable energy target set for 2030 already by 2026, adding that the country’s greenhouse gas emission target for 2030 was 50 percent of the 1990 level. “Hungary is at the forefront of producing and storing green energy, and we are not giving up on the use of zero-emission nuclear energy, either,” the president said.

She pointed to the problem of welfare states witnessing a dramatic population decline. She said correlation between GDP and fertility was obvious, arguing that “the higher the prosperity, the lower the fertility. The more money, the fewer children.”

“Climate crisis, poverty, equality, biodiversity, water, and the phenomenon of the demographic ice age can only be understood together. What is the point in protecting the Earth if not for our children?”, said Novak.

She warned against “discouraging the youth from childbearing” and called for “giving up the culture of fear” and “listening to Pope Francis saying yes to life”.

The UN COP28 conference is attended by 80,000 participants including the heads of state and government from 140 countries.