Petr Hladík from KDU-ČSL (foreground in the middle) upon his appointment as Minister of the Environment, March 10, 2023, Prague. He was appointed to the position by President Petr Pavel (in the background).
Prague – Following the appointment of Petr Hladík (KDU-ČSL) as Minister of the Environment, ecologists are appealing for the enforcement of a new energy policy aimed, among other things, at moving away from coal by 2033, protecting nature, the landscape or biological diversity. They stated this in today's press release of the Green Circle Association. The Fridays for Future movement hopes that with Hladík, an expert and a person with an active interest in the issue of the climate crisis will join the ministry.
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Today, the day after assuming the post of head of state, President Petr Pavel appointed KDU-ČSL vice-chairman Hladík as minister. The previous president, Miloš Zeman, rejected the appointment at the beginning of the year, which the People's Party described as unconstitutional. The government has not been complete since the beginning of November, when Anna Hubáčková (for KDU-ČSL) left the Ministry of the Environment for health reasons.
Jiří Koželouh from the RAINBOW Movement said that Hladík has a big task ahead of him to ensure that the state's new energy policy is strongly focused on climate protection, moving away from coal by 2033, modernizing the energy industry and ensuring energy needs for everyone. “The ministry has enough money from the EU or emission allowances to be able to ensure that even low-income households reduce energy consumption, install clean renewable sources or engage in their sharing,” he believes.
Barbora Urbanová from the Center for Transport and Energy appealed for the targeted and effective use of money for the green transformation “Measures that reduce greenhouse gas emissions often have a number of secondary positive effects: they free us from dependence on the import of fossil fuels, help solve energy poverty and improve air quality in the cities,” she stated.
Jan Freidinger from Greenpeace CR considers it an important task to ensure that the Czech Republic fulfills what it has committed to in the protection of biodiversity at the global and European level: to protect at least 30 percent of Czech nature, from ten percent of it in the strictest mode.
According to Eliška Vozníková from the RAINBOW Movement, the ministry has begun to repay the debt to nature and landscape protection and has improved communication with municipalities in this regard. “I believe that personal communication with people on the spot, together with understandable communication from the outside, will contribute to understanding the importance of protecting new protected areas, such as the Křivoklátsko National Park or the PLA Soutok,” she said.
She considers it necessary to ensure the protection of existing protected landscape areas in which, as a result of the elimination of bark beetle-infested trees, there are large clearings. “However, these will not prevent the spread of bark beetles, they will only delay natural regeneration,” says Vozníková.
In the area of waste and its management, the department should continue to focus mainly on promoting recycling and preventing the generation of waste, especially at the level of municipalities and cities, says Sarah Ožanová from Arnika. “It is also important to support the demand for products made from recycled materials on the market,” she noted. According to her, the reserve system for plastic bottles should be introduced by the end of 2025.
