National Council for Sustainable Development
Name: Hungarian National Council for Sustainable Development (Nemzeti Fenntartható Fejlődési Tanács, NFFT)
Established in: 2008 (The National Council for Sustainable Development was established by the National Assembly and has been given a renewed mandate since then)
Role: The Council has the role of advising the parliament on government policy or making policy recommendations to the parliament and government with regard to sustainable development. The Council can provide both solicited and unsolicited advice to government and parliament.
Duties: The Council is tasked to: prepare a bi-annual Monitoring Report on the National Framework Strategy on Sustainable Development; provide a professional opinion on certain issues and make proposals regarding areas relevant to the Council; assume responsibility for facilitating the definition of the principles, objectives and comprehensive tasks of sustainable development in Hungary; promote an attitude change in all segments of society; promote the regular revision and implementation of the sustainable development strategy; support the coordination of the relevant planning and consultation activities, raising awareness and social engagement and implementation of the SDGs.
Composition: The Council’s members include politicians, representatives of economic and scientific life, churches, trade unions and civil society. The chairperson of the Council is the current Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament and the Council has 4 co-chairs, delegated by government, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the opposition parties in Parliament, and civil society organisations.
The secretariat: The NFFT has a secretariat that comprises 5 staff members.
