Green Up has launched

Sobering connections, chasing illusions, the "throwaway" culture, global economic interests opposing environmental problems, overpopulation, food waste, energy waste of the fashion and textile industries and of course good examples and solutions were discussed at the opening event of the Green Up sustainability programme on Tuesday by two speakers, Dr. András Gelencsér, Rector of the University of Pannonia and János Áder, President of the Blue Planet Foundation and former President of the Republic.

Ideally, humanity should solve global problems with the help of science, and there have been a few examples of this in the past, but in the last few decades there has been no solution - András Gelencsér began his presentation. According to the Rector, in this reality, science should be used to find the causes of real problems and to select the most appropriate solution among the possible ones. Unfortunately, the majority of people and politics do not like these kinf of complex problems, they do not understand them very well, so they are transformed into simple, one-bit messages from a marketing point of view, which the majority of people can comprehend. "If you can attach economic interests to these one-sided messages, then you have a pseudo-solution that has little to do with reality. We call this space an alternative reality - also known as illusions or daydreams - characterised by the fact that natural and social laws do not prevail." - he said. He added: "Global climate change is now seen as the biggest challenge to sustainability, because if you search for sustainability, 80 percent of what comes up is climate change and its consequences. The simple marketing message on climate change is the cause and effect relationship between atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and the increase in global average temperature, which means that if we want to stop the rise in temperature, all we have to do is decarbonise, to stop the increase in carbon dioxide concentrations. But the climate system is more complicated than that," he said. He added that there is no meaningful carbon-free alternative for half of global energy use (e.g. steel, cement or glass production, shipping).

- We are chasing illusions, János Áder said, commenting on a recent press release. The Presidency preparing the COP 28 climate summit, has called on the world's governments to triple their renewable energy production capacity by 2030 in order to prevent global warming exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius. János Áder said that this was already known to be unrealistic at the Paris climate summit eight years ago. Every year, tens of thousands of people gather to formulate these targets, whereas all the G20 countries responsible for 80% of emissions should have to meet, and then, he said, "listen to the scientists and then make decisions that are enforceable, are enforced and are binding."

In his presentation, the President drew attention to the rise in consumption caused by growing population and urbanisation, the irresponsibility of the throwaway culture, the problem of food waste, the impact of the fashion and food industries on water pollution and global carbon emissions, and also spoke about electronic waste. He also pointed out that from 1 January 2024, PET bottles, aluminium and glass drinks bottles will be subject to a deposit in Hungary. The bottles will be available at 4,000 vending machines and mechanical collection points for HUF 50.

The president of the Blue Planet Foundation also praised the book by Dr. András Gelencsér entitled Under the spell of the Illusions - the limits of sustainable development, which, in his opinion, points out sobering connections.

The mission of the University of Pannonia is to be an active participant in shaping a sustainable future through its internationally renowned, multi-disciplinary, sustainability-related education, research and development activities. Thus, in addition to the lectures, the programme included a sustainability adventure tour, spectacular interactive games, workshops and a travelling exhibition entitled "Climate and Me". But the university will also be offering sustainability-related activities throughout November as part of its Green Up programme series.