Hungarian Scientific Panel on Climate Change
The Hungarian Scientific Panel on Climate Change (HuPCC) is a scientific advisory forum on climate change registered in Hungary.
The aim of the Hungarian Scientific Panel on Climate Change is to disseminate and make available the latest information and research results on climate change relating to Hungary in the form of scientific assessment.
The Association implements its objectives and programme independently in Hungary, participates in the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and performs its activities in accordance with that international organisation. It facilitates the process of preparing reports by organising work meetings, workshops, conferences, other events, as well as collecting missing data and literature. The Association does not conduct its own research or basic research, but as the co-ordinating agency of Hungarian climate research, it shares the research results of its members. In the course of its activities, the Panel takes into account that climate change endangers the stocks and quality of natural resources in interaction with other important environmental, social and economic problems.
The Association promotes the protection of the natural and built environment, the sustainable development of society. The activities of the Association are based on commitment, community participation and co-operation, a scientifically based independent and impartial position, and respect for the diversity of professional considerations and disciplinary approaches. The Association is a non-profit organisation and performs its work independently of political considerations, parties and economic trends. The Association does not engage in direct political activity, its organisation is independent of parties and does not provide or accept financial support from them. The activities of the Association are policy-oriented and scientifically grounded, but not prescriptive. In order to achieve its goals, the Association co-operates with state agencies, decision-makers, environmental and professional organisations, and research institutions.
ABOUT US
The aim of the Association of the Hungarian Scientific Panel on Climate Change (HuPCC), registered in 2020 is to summarise the Hungarian implications of the latest knowledge and research on climate change in scientific evaluation reports, based on the nationalised model of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). HuPCC is currently working on organising a conference preparing for author selection as the next step in the process.
Founding members of the HuPCC
Dr. László Z. Antal
Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Sociology, ELKH TK (Eötvös Loránd Research Network, Centre for Social Sciences)
Dr. Gyula Bándi
Deputy Commissioner for Future Generations
Dr. Judit Bartholy
Professor Department of Meteorology, ELTE (Eötvös Loránd University)
Dr. András Bidló
Institute Director, Dean, Professor, University of Sopron
Dr. Mária Csete Mrs. Szalma
Associate Professor, BME (Budapest University of Technology and Economics) Department of Environmental Economics
György Fajzi
Psychologist
Dr. Balázs Felsmann
Senior Research Fellow, Regional Centre for Energy Policy Research
Dr. Tamás Gál
Deputy Head of Department, Associate Professor, University of Szeged, (Faculty of Natural Sciences), Department of Climatology and Landscape Ecology
Dr. András Huszár
Founding Director, Green Policy Centre, PhD student, National University of Public Service
Dr. Márton Jolánkai
Professor, Professor Emeritus, Hungarian University of Agricultural and Life Sciences
Csaba Kőrősi
Director, KEH (Office of the President of the Republic) Directorate for Environmental Sustainability
Irén Márta
Director, Business Council for Sustainable Development in Hungary (BCSDH)
Dr. János Mika
Professor, Eszterházy Károly College
Dr. Orsolya Nagy
RDI Legal Expert, NKFIH (National Research, Development and Innovation Office)
Dr. Csaba Nemes
Head of the Sustainable Development Department, MEKH (HEPURA, Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority)
Márió Nobilis
Acting Head of Department, Sapientia College of Theology of Religious Orders
Dr. Anna Páldy
Expert, National Centre for Public Health
Levente Pribéli
University student majoring in human ecology and one of the Hungarian activists of the Fridays For Future movement
Dr. János Pál Selmeczi
Unit Manager, MBFSZ (Mining and Geological Survey of Hungary) National Adaptation Centre Department
Dr. Katalin Sulyok
Assistant Professor, Department of International Law, ELTE ÁJK (Faculty of Law)
Dr. László Szekér
MSc in Architecture, GradDiplAA, Senior Designer, CEPHD and PH Certifier
Dr. Péter Tálas
Head of Department, Senior Research Fellow, NKE (University of Public Service) Strategic Defence Research Institute
Dr. Diána Ürge-Vorsatz.
Professor, Vice-Chair of IPCC Working Group III
Edina Vadovics
Professional Leader, GreenDependent Institute
Csaba Vaszkó
Sustainability Consultant
Gabriella Zsebeházi
Expert, Hungarian Meteorological Service
Dr. János Zlinszky
Associate Professor, NKE (University of Public Service) Department of Water and Environmental Policy
BACKGROUND
Prior to the start in 2021, two preparatory conferences were held in Budapest in 2018 and in Szeged in 2019 . The Association was registered in 2020. The table of contents of the Report has already been accepted. The process of preparing the Report and the implementation of the conference in April is supported by the ITM (Ministry of Innovation and Technology).
OUR ACTIVITIES
The national assessment reports, prepared on the basis of IPCC reports, have already proved to be an effective model in many countries for building consensus across disciplines and effectively supporting policy-making. The documents jointly adopted by the scientific community and the decision-making sector provide a solid basis for climate change-related decision-making, policy and economic planning and decision-making. The aim of the National Assessment Report is to provide scientifically based facts, information and assessments based on the analysis of the available relevant foreign and domestic literature in the field of climate change, supporting (but not prescribing) decisions related to Hungary, and also of interest to the general public, in the field of climate change, and based on all that, to identify and evaluate responses and breakout points.
The main activity of the Association is the compilation of the ‘National Assessment Report’ prepared every couple of years, but the Association also prepares special reports on key topics. The Association summarises its work in scientific reports, based on a nationalised model of the work of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The Association also carries out other research, support and communication activities required for this core activity, if it deems them necessary to promote the objectives of the core activity and considers them to be compatible with the key principles of the Association.
It organises and supervises the writing of the ‘Climate Change in Hungary: National Assessment Report’ and special reports, thus facilitating the deepening of decision-makers’ knowledge of climate change and the public availability of data, models and literature related to the preparation of the report.
It organises and manages the application and selection of the authors necessary to write the report, and supervises their work. It establishes and operates working groups adapted to Hungarian conditions, modelled on the IPCC, which are scientifically objective and independent in writing the report.
In preparing the reports, it organises, conducts and oversees the independent, multi-step professional review process, and ensures that reviews are taken into account by the authors.
The purpose of the scientific assessment is to inform decision-makers in the governmental sector (state, county and municipal) and other actors (e.g. business, institutions, civil society) about the scientific results related to climate change, both in the fields of forecasts, impacts, adaptation and mitigation. Assessments are carried out in close collaboration with government actors, based on the IPCC’s institutional model of co-operation.
The planned schedule of preparing the National Assessment Report
The preparation of the Report is in line with the process of preparing the IPCC report
The process is currently at a stage after the adoption of the table of contents and before the selection of the authors.
OUR Next steps:
Selection of the author
Preparation of the first draft
Opinion on the first draft
Preparation of the final draft
Opinion on the final draft
Finalisation of the report
Publication of the report
OUR REPORTS
Climate change in Hungary: National Assessment Report
Approved table of contents
- Introduction, conduct
- 1. Observed climatic changes in Hungary
- 2. Climatic constraints, climatic scenarios and impacts
- 3. Emission trends, scenarios, integrated and systemic responses
- 4. Emission reduction options in the energy sector and productive sectors (industry, agriculture and forestry)
- 5. Mitigation options in the user and service sectors (buildings, transport, waste management)
- 6. Adaptation challenges and opportunities by and across sectors
- 7. Adaptation challenges and opportunities by region
- 8. Climate change and safety
- 9. Economic and legal aspects, costs of inaction, financing
- 10. Responses at individual, community and local levels, education and attitude formation
First National Interdisciplinary Scientific Conference on Climate Change
- 12-15 April 2021
- Online
The conference will be held under the auspices of the newly established Scientific Panel on Climate Change (HuPCC), modelled on the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), with a view to laying the groundwork for the writing of the First National Climate Change Assessment Report. The main thematic areas of the conference are the content adopted at the Content Determination Conference of the First National Climate Change Assessment Report held in Szeged on 28-29 May 2019 (see Annex 1), which attempts to cover the entire area of climate change in 10 topics.
The objectives of the conference:
- Mapping the scientific workshops, researchers and research on the topic of climate change in Hungary
- Providing a forum for the presentation of research and scientific work related to climate change in the country, for the general professional community
- Helping to launch the First National Climate Change Assessment Report, familiarising prospective potential authors with the draft report and with each other
- Strengthening the scientific community of Hungarian researchers dealing with climate change, including interdisciplinary dialogue and co-operation between distant disciplines.
As climate change affects a large number of scientific professions and disciplines, researchers and practitioners tend to carry out much of their work in their narrower field of expertise and are mainly associated with researchers working in this field. However, the complexity and context of the responses and solutions related to climate change call for a dialogue and regular scientific exchange between the relevant more distant disciplines.
