President János Áder is launching a bi-weekly podcast focused on environmental issues and climate change, public media has reported.
In the podcast entitled “Blue Planet”, the president will discuss issues like the challenges presented by climate change, the water crisis and transitioning to a circular economy and a sustainable way of life with the field’s leading experts.
The first episode will see Áder and environmental economist Gábor Bartus discuss China’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2060.
In his virtual address at the United Nations General Assembly last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping said the country aims to have its carbon dioxide emissions peak by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.
Bartus said Chinese society was beginning to notice that the country’s economic rise had come at the cost of extreme air pollution. Most cities in China have become “unlivable”, he said, adding that the country faced a high number of premature deaths attributable to air pollution.
Áder said Xi’s announcement could hardly be considered surprising, noting China’s significant contributions to the production of sustainable energy technologies like solar panels, wind turbines and lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles.
The first episode will be available online from Monday.
Featured photo illustration by Zoltán Máthé/MTI