On 18 February 2026, the Climate Policy Institute (CPI) organised a high-level panel discussion on environmental health, stress, resilience, and health systems in Hungary, moderated by Dr. Katarína Sárvári, Senior Researcher at CPI.
The panel featured Dr. Anna Páldy, epidemiologist and former Director of the National Public Health Institute, Dr. Gabriella Sódar, specialist in environmental health regulation, and Dr. Róbert Kőnig, emergency physician and Prime Minister’s Commissioner, who provided scientific, regulatory, and frontline perspectives on Hungary’s growing health risks.
The discussion centred on the importance of adaptation, highlighting that extreme heat, deteriorating air quality, intensified pollen seasons, and shifting disease patterns already pose serious challenges, particularly for vulnerable groups. Panellists stressed the need to strengthen early warning systems, expand health and environmental surveillance, improve emergency preparedness, and enhance coordination among public institutions.
Education and public awareness were identified as key pillars of long-term resilience, with emphasis on starting environmental and health education already at kindergarten level and continuing throughout the school system, combined with clear public communication to encourage preventive behaviour and responsible individual action.
