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We planted trees for carbon-conscious events

It is important for BCSDH that its entire operation, including its events, is carbon-conscious. In collaboration with Greendependent, we plant 40-50 native fruit trees annually in school gardens to offset the CO2 emissions that we cannot avoid, thus supporting sustainability on multiple levels. Recently, on behalf of the BCSDH Executive Board, BCSDH employees planted 6 fruit trees at the Göllner Mária Regional Waldorf High School in Budapest.

The TreeDependent program focuses on planting native fruit trees in educational and social institution gardens, which:

Provide educational and communal gardening opportunities for students and residents of the institutions
Offer the owners delicious fruit and contribute to local food production.
Contribute to the preservation of biological diversity and local varieties. The trees are sourced from the “Tündérkert” (Fairy Garden) in Pórszombat, Zala County, which serves as a gene preservation site

BCSDH aims to draw the attention of its members to the importance of carbon-conscious event organization. Learn more about organizing carbon-conscious events.

31.05.2023/by eszter.chikankovacs

BCSDH ’Transform Talks’: Climate change is a symptom that nature is in trouble

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The decline of biodiversity and climate change must be considered together, as they are mutually influencing processes. The resulting challenges have now become financial and operational risks. It is important to understand what the business sector needs to do for systemic changes and to speed up the process in order to protect and restore natural diversity, as well as for climate adaptation.

This was the topic of this year’s BCSDH ‘Transform Talks’ CEO Roundtable discussion series, where more than 40 company leaders participated and shared their thoughts on the topic, the events were led by Márta Irén, BCSDH’s managing director.

The importance of the situation is shown by the fact that in December 2022, a historic agreement was reached at the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Montreal. The majority of the ministers and government officials of the 190 countries participating in the event agreed that the protection of biodiversity should be a priority.

During the round table discussions, it emerged that the companies have the commitment, but so far they are less aware of the areas in which they need to act in order to protect and restore nature. At the same time, there are already companies that consciously assess the effects and opportunities on nature resulting from their own operations, and there are forward-looking business solutions that are also exemplary at the industry level.

It was also clearly seen that the involvement of experts is especially justified in this topic, since it is a special area where the impact must also be examined in a complex way. The built environment also has many opportunities for climate-neutral operation. It is also an important lesson that in many cases even a small change or innovation can bring significant results, which does not require a large investment, and can even bring savings.

The concrete results of the ‘Transform Talks’ CEO Roundtable discussions and the business recommendations regarding biodiversity will be presented at the BCSDH Business Lunch on 12th October, together with the company’s best practices.

Special thanks to the hosts of the events for providing the venue, the photo galleries can be viewed at the links below:

30.05.2023/by Nagy Andrea

“Towards a National Circular Economy Strategy for Hungary” – Circular Economy Academy I.

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On April 4, 2023, the Circular Economy Academy was launched with great interest. At the first event of the webinar series, we presented the results of the SRSP/TSI project “Introducing the circular economy and managing the challenges of waste management”, which ended at the end of March 2023, with the help of representatives of the organizations participating in the project.

On behalf of the Prime Minister’s Office, Dóra Alexandra Arany, head of department, reported on the implementation of the project spanning more than three years, including the launch and work processes. She emphasized that, in addition to the three main priority areas, horizontal approaches play a very important role in the strategy, e.g. circular business models spanning the life cycle of education, research and development, and products and materials, which can further accelerate the circular transition covering the entire economy.

Péter Chrabak, the head of circular economy at Zoltán Bay Research Institute, which is a partner organization in the project, presented the main priority areas (biomass and food industry, construction industry and plastics) and the measures with a significant impact, which can be considered critical in terms of the transition to a circular economy in Hungary. He explained the quantified goals set until 2040 presented in the OECD report, which make Hungary’s future vision more tangible and facilitate its implementation.

The goals to be achieved by 2040:

The Government invests in research and introduces incentives to support resource efficiency through innovation, eco-design and the sharing and reuse of products. Hungary’s goal is to double its resource productivity (GDP/DMC) and reach the target of 2 EUR/kg.
In order to close the material cycle and use materials more sustainably, measures are being taken to double (increase to 15%) Hungary’s rate of circular material use.
The Government provides support in the field of innovation and the development of new business models. Hungary aims to increase the number of cyclical jobs by 30% (to 2.5% of the total workforce) in industry, agriculture and the service sector.

The report was prepared on behalf of the Prime Minister’s Office, with the cooperation of the OECD Environmental Protection Directorate and the involvement of Hungarian stakeholders. You can read more about the OECD report here.

The presentations were followed by a panel discussion with the participation of our speakers, moderated by Dr. Bálint Horváth, CBRE’s Senior Sustainability Consultant. During the conversation, it was discussed to what extent the material use (DMC) of the Hungarian economy can be reduced as a result of the measures, and what the prospects are for increasing the use of degradable/renewable materials. Participants also had the opportunity to ask questions.

But what financing options do organizations have? Dóra Alexandra Arany’s presentation presented the indirect (KEHOP Plusz, GINOP Plusz, TOP Plusz, DIMOP Plusz and KAP Strategic Plan) and direct (LIFE, INTERREG) EU funds, the utilization of which can be of prime importance for companies in the circular economy in starting the transition.

Thanks to the sponsors of the Circular Economy Platform:

26.05.2023/by Takacs Ivett

The situation of secondary raw material markets and waste concessions in Hungary – Circular Economy Academy II.

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Safety, Balance, Values – What can we do in the Society of Burnout? – ESG and Social Capital Working Group meeting

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Social issues are receiving increasing emphasis in the business world, as growing inequalities carry systemic risks.

What can companies do to reduce social inequalities? What workforce trends should they prepare for in the near future? How can we support innovation in social issues by aligning wth values? What are the psychosocial risks present in the workplace? These were the topics discussed during our joint ESG and Social Capital Working Group meeting on April 27, 2023, with the participation of around 35 people, hosted by Randstad Hungary.

The participants of the joint working group were welcomed by Gréta Nagy, leader of the ESG Working Group and CEO of Dandelion, and Attila Kelemen, leader of the Social Capital Working Group and President-CEO of ProSelf International Ltd. They emphasized that social issues are gaining increasing importance in the business world, as the success of every organization depends on its people, i.e., colleagues, partners, and consumers.

Sándor Baja, the CEO of Randstad Hungary, presented the latest trends and indicators characterizing the Hungarian labor market in his presentation. He emphasized that in the uncertain economic environment, the financial stability of employers has become significantly more important. At the same time, the importance of work-life balance has further strengthened compared to the previous year.

Ágnes Vörös, Head of HR and Administration Hungary at BASF, and Kristóf Kovács, founder and trustee of the Invisible School Foundation, presented the Invisible School program, an exemplary initiative where volunteers support the academic development, vocational orientation, and social integration of children living in temporary homes through mentorship programs, personal tutoring, and summer camps.

Lajos Csaba, Deputy Head of PR and Government Relations at Richter Gedeon Nyrt., presented how the Richter Anna Prize helps the company contribute to the development of social issues such as education, healthcare, and pharmaceuticals. They support innovative ideas aimed at improving working conditions and service quality. The winning projects can serve as best practices on a wider scale.

Gréta Nagy‘s presentation focused on the issue of workplace stress. She emphasized how creating a trusting atmosphere, ensuring safety, and establishing balance greatly contribute to the mental well-being of employees.

To conclude the event, Zsófia Galambosné Dudás, Professional Project Manager of BCSDH, presented the organization’s plan for the new CSRD training.

23.05.2023/by Galambosne Dudas Zsofia

A lot of little things go a long way – the decision of the individual in light of sustainability and climate goals

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Is the sustainable option really more expensive? Does one individual’s carbon footprint reduction have a real impact? Should we give up beef? Are we willing to spend more for a sustainable product? At the Alumni meeting of the “Leaders of the Future” talent program, the focus was on the individual: the topics of the evening were individual responsibility for carbon footprint reduction and the role of sustainability in our shopping habits. Our host, KPMG, hosted us in the cozy Rooftop 825 Café on April 5.

Márta Irén, the director of the BCSDH, said in her welcome speech that it was a pleasure to see that in 10 years, a cohesive community based on the values of sustainability was formed, who can turn to each other with business or sustainability issues, and which has now stood on its own two feet, since its programs are also organized by its members.

Edina Vadovics, the professional director of the GreenDependent Institute, presented their work regarding the “1.5-degree lifestyle”. Through the results of their research, they explained a number of available lifestyle options that we ourselves can use to reduce the carbon footprint, thus achieving the 1.5-degree climate goal. For this purpose, the “Climate Puzzle” board game was also created, which shows in an insightful way how the modifications in different areas of our lives – such as housing, food consumption or transport – contribute to achieving your own “1.5-degree” lifestyle, and how much we still have to do to achieve our individual goal.

Julianna Nagy, Senior Manager of KPMG ESG & Sustainability Services, presented KPMG’s “Me, My Life, My Wallet” research, which examines the role of sustainability in purchasing decisions and defines customer groups based on this. She presented the main characteristics of the habits and values of each group member, and also shed light on which groups were most sensitively affected by the recession last year. Ágnes Deme, Manager of KPMG ESG & Sustainability Services, guided the participants in a playful way through the series of questions, from which they found out which of the customer groups they met were the most important based on their values and purchasing decisions.

After the presentations, an informal discussion followed, which gave the opportunity to think further about what was said, to try the board game and to network.

Although the individual is a very small element of the big machine, it is still of great importance: with their values, decisions, and shopping habits, they contribute to the whole in the present; and they create new standards, expectations, and demands for the future, which affects producers, manufacturers, and service providers. Last, but by no means least, who would be the most efficient operators of the engine of sustainability, if not personally committed individuals?

Photo gallery >>

06.04.2023/by Balasfalvi-Lukacsi Mariann

Without nature, there is no business – Diane Holdorf at the BCSDH Business Breakfast

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We are gradually depleting and losing our natural resources. The net-zero goals of governments and businesses, which cover 70% of the global economy, are unattainable without ending deforestation this decade and protecting marine life, which currently absorbs 30% of global carbon dioxide emissions, as pointed out by Diane Holdorf, Executive Vice President of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), at the BCSDH Business Breakfast and Forum on March 28, which focused on the interaction between businesses and nature. The participants were greeted by Dr. Csaba Kandrács, Vice President of the Hungarian National Bank, as the host of the day.

The world’s most pressing challenges include the climate emergency, rapid biodiversity loss, dramatically growing social inequality, and the focus on assessing corporate performance from an economic perspective only. We are running out of time, and these four areas require immediate measures, action, and systemic change, alongside commitment at the highest level.

“We cannot achieve net zero without business action to halt and reverse nature loss. Nature represents a third of the climate solution, and biodiversity loss is accelerating. Every business depends on nature, with opportunities to invest in nature-based solutions which drive the transformational change that we need”, – stated Diane Holdorf, Executive Vice President of WBCSD, who represented the business world at the UN-initiated COP15 on biodiversity, where an important international agreement was reached for the preservation of biodiversity.

Katalin Sipos, Country Manager of WWF Hungary, summarized the domestic situation and discussed possible solutions.

“Due to the incredible technological development of humanity, we have become accustomed to seeking technical solutions for almost everything. However, hi-tech is not always the wisest choice – for the sustainability transition, we need cultural and value changes, as well as low-emission, low-tech solutions. And for some environmental problems, the simplest and most ancient solution is the best: nature itself as the solution”, – said Katalin Sipos in her presentation, emphasizing that climate commitments cannot be made at the expense of nature, but rather the change must be genuinely systemic, and built upon nature.

Nature is essential for creating a healthy humanity, a healthy business life, and a healthy planet. Climate, biodiversity, and water are all part of the same system, are closely interconnected, and no element can be separated from the others, as they are in constant interaction.

“More than half of the world’s GDP depends on nature and its services. That means it affects all of us, whether we know it or not, so everyone must act. That is why we have placed this topic in the focus of our professional program for 2023. We need systemic changes instead of isolated measures, which require deep and comprehensive cooperation among the business community, scientific experts, political decision-makers, investors, developers, and consumers. We believe that the business sector must take a leading role in achieving this desired rapid change”, – said Attila Chikán Jr., President of BCSDH, in his opening speech.

Following the presentations, company executives and corporate, scientific and civil experts discussed the current state and challenges of biodiversity, water and climate adaptation and revealed many business best practices and solutions at a closed-door forum.

29.03.2023/by eszter.chikankovacs

One hundred and thirty-three companies have expressed their high-level commitment to sustainability by adopting “Sustainable Business Management Guidelines”

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The Business Council for Sustainable Development in Hungary (BCSDH) has developed into a leading organization for corporate sustainability, now representing the top executives of 133 responsible companies in Hungary. At its general assembly, held at MOL Campus, member companies accepted the ‘Sustainable Business Management Guidelines’ thereby expressing their desire to lead by example as well as manage their companies accordingly.

The ‘Sustainable Business Management Guidelines’ comprehensively outline how a sustainable company should operate. Our aim in creating the Management Guidelines was to provide guidance for corporate leaders in Hungary in terms of sustainable corporate governance. The members of the BCSDH are responsible leaders of leading companies in this area, who, by signing the membership agreement, undertake to accept these guidelines and are committed to leading their companies in this direction,” said István Salgó, BCSDH’s honorary president, who oversaw and supported the entire process with his expertise.

‘The ‘Sustainable Business Management Guidelines’ were developed in line with the system of criteria of our parent organization, the WBCSD, based on our Recommendations for Business Leaders and as part of our Time to Transform 2030 program. To monitor the progress of our members in this process, we track their results annually through our maturity survey. Our goal is to assist them by identifying areas for development and showing them best practices that will help them achieve real change and accelerate the process,” added Irén Márta, the organization’s executive director, after approval of the BCSDH 2022 report.

The BCSDH has defined its goal for 2023 as supporting its member companies and the business sector to achieve climate-neutral operations, restore biodiversity, promote an inclusive, equitable, and diverse corporate culture and operations, and fully respect human rights in business. The organization also aims to promote the highest level of transparency.

“Now is the time for action. Along with our 133 corporate members, we believe that small steps are no longer enough, and immediate change is needed in poorly functioning systems. We believe that the corporate sector must lead these changes. Those who act earlier will clearly be less affected by external factors such as rising energy prices or supply chain disruptions. Transformation requires a mindset change that fundamentally alters business leaders’ short- and long-term thinking and decision-making. It is important for BCSDH to have a highly committed community of companies and business leaders, which is why the widespread adoption of the Sustainable Business Management Guidelines is a significant step.” explained Attila Chikán Jr., president of BCSDH.

This intention is supported by our professional short-term and long-term work. The Time to Transform 2030 program, which will define the decade, was launched to accelerate systemic transformation, including the Race to Zero initiative, which will help the Hungarian economy become climate-neutral by 2050, the Circular Economy Platform, which aims to accelerate the transition to a circular economic model, and the ESG working group, which will prepare member companies to comply with stricter regulations through knowledge sharing. The “Future Leaders” Talent Program, now in its tenth year, continues to lend support and is a much-needed program for ensuring that as many business leaders as possible understand the Sustainable Business Management Guidelines and incorporate them into everyday business operations.

Related Galery

28.02.2023/by eszter.chikankovacs

Nobody Can Do It Alone – BCSDH Sustainability Matchmaking Event for Promoting Net-zero Goals

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The world faces three critical challenges: the climate emergency, the loss of natural diversity, and growing social inequalities. Systemic changes are needed instead of isolated measures, which require profound and comprehensive cooperation across sectors and between economic actors.

The Business Council for Sustainable Development in Hungary (BCSDH), recognizing the opportunities inherent in synergy and partnership that its 133 leading company members can generate, organized a private Sustainability Matchmaking event for the second time on January 24, 2023, hosted by UniCredit Bank, to speed up the transition to carbon-neutral operations and encourage system-level change.

Joining the Race to Zero initiative, at the event organized in cooperation with the British Embassy, twenty companies presented their sustainability products and services and had the opportunity to have informal discussions with with more than thirty companies that were looking for sustainability solutions to help meet the goal of net zero.

On behalf of UniCredit Bank, Giacomo Volpi, Vice President and Deputy CEO, welcomed the participants.

“Glad to be part of this business-led, business-to-business event. It demonstrates that net zero makes business sense and that businesses are playing their role in driving the clean energy and economic transition” – highlighted Paul Fox, the Ambassador of the United Kingdom in Hungary, in his opening speech.

The most popular topics were energy efficiency, green energy, and circular economy solutions, but carbon footprint calculation and digital and financial solutions for promoting carbon neutrality were not far behind.

“The program clearly shows what the most pressing challenges are for companies. Significant progress has been made in defining net zero goals, even within one year, as our latest Towards Net Zero research conducted together with Deloitte shows that the number of companies committing to carbon neutrality has doubled. At the same time, carbon neutrality goals often do not include actual, measurable, scientific GHG emission reduction commitments, so there is still a long way to go“ – said Irén Márta, executive director of the BCSDH, in her welcome speech. “The research also pointed out that there is still a lot of uncertainty, a lack of knowledge is typical, and the allocation of resources within companies is often inadequate. The main incentives for companies to reduce emissions are maintaining or increasing competitiveness and complying with regulations. By presenting opportunities and good examples in this area, BCSDH can best help its member companies and the wider business environment” – she added.

It is an encouraging finding that areas related to the focal topic of the BCSDH for 2023 – the protection of biodiversity – already started to be addressed this year at the event: services related to regenerative agriculture, nature-based carbon neutralization, and sustainable water management.

More than half of the world’s GDP depends on nature and its services. In other words, all actors and companies are affected, so everyone has the responsibility and opportunity to act.

Thanks to the Sponsors of the 2023 Race to Zero Program:

24.01.2023/0 Comments/by Takacs Ivett

Why is the phone’s dialing sound different when calling from abroad? – an exciting lab tour at Nokia at the Future Leaders Alumni meeting

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Why is the phone’s dialing sound different when calling from abroad? How many phone calls can a phone tower handle at the same time? How is 5G made? And how do you present to your managers that sustainable investments are really worth it? These are couple of the topics from the latest Alumni meeting of the Future Leaders Talent Program, held on November 23 at Nokia.

Attila Baranyai, Nokia’s Global Logistics Quality Manager, and participant of the 2018 class, hosted the Alumni team of the Future Leaders Talent Program at the Nokia Skypark Office Building. Nokia’s team in Hungary is one of the company’s most significant and successful research and development units. The company’s engineers showed the team around the lab, and we could see how the 5G network – that is used in more and more parts of the world – is being developed in Hungary. They also told us about what we can expect in the future in the field of networks. Attila talked about the sustainability activities of the company, including the supply chain area. He also presented the project of József Pap, Nokia’s Strategic Procurement Manager, Warehouse&Packaging, and participant of the 2014 class, about the introduction of hybrid (cardboard and wood-based) pallets and how its economic/financial and environmental effects were presented to the company’s management.

“It’s a real pleasure to finally meet in person again” said Irén Márta. The director of BCSDH talked about this year’s results, the plans for the next year and together they discussed the Alumni Mentor Program as well as how to celebrate the 10th birthday of the Future Leaders Talent Program next year.

25.11.2022/0 Comments/by Takacs Ivett