Business Council for Sustainable Development in Hungary
1118 Budapest, Ménesi street 9/a.
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World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) National Partner
Can net-zero targets be met without employee attitude formation and commitment? How do we reach different groups of workers? These were the main topics of our communication working group meeting on June 13, 2023, with a large number of participants hosted by Sió-Eckes.
Emese Szász-Bognár, Communications and Media Manager, presented Sió’s sustainability activities, highlighting the 6 pillars on which the actions are based. It was interesting to see their programme to protect bees and promote beekeepers, which is also about raising public awareness. Along the lines of the net zero targets set, important actions are being taken in the areas of water and energy saving, circular economy and recyclable packaging solutions.
The company plays an important role in raising public awareness. A Sustainability Education Day for employees offers an awareness-raising joint programme for physical and mental workers.
It was here that it became clear that reaching different groups of workers is not an equal challenge. Different tools for awareness-raising need to be used with these groups. Successful employee awareness raising is the key to getting all parts of the company on track to achieve net zero targets.
Csilla Dudás, Senior Communications Manager of Unicredit Bank, presented the bank’s overall sustainability strategy, highlighting their awareness raising programmes, which include many new tools.
Because of the multiplier effect of banks here, employee awareness raising can have a much wider impact on processes. An important finding was that companies can expect their partners and value chain to take steps that they have already taken themselves, so they can only be credible.
A thought-provoking and inspiring discussion followed the presentations.
The Blue Planet Climate Protection Foundation (KBKA) will be organizing the PLANET Budapest 2023 sustainability expo from September 25th to October 1st, 2023.
The venue will be Pavilion A of Hungexpo, where, in addition to professional and experiential programs, 150 domestic companies will exhibit their sustainability innovations from the agricultural and food industry ecosystems.
For the first time this year, the BCSDH will also have an installation, similar to many of our member companies.
In addition to the exhibition, from September 27th to 29th, interested individuals can attend several specialized conferences for free, in the following topics, with the participation of several member companies:
- Green financing
- Renewable energies
- Nature-based agriculture
- Water management
- Sustainable packaging
Participation in the professional programs is free but requires registration.
The significance of the events is further emphasized by the fact that before the professional programs on all three days, János Áder, the chairman of the KBKA board, will engage in discussions on sustainability issues with political and economic key figures. Conversation partners are as follows:
- Wednesday: Zsolt Hernádi, CEO of MOL Nyrt.
- Thursday: István Nagy, Minister of Agriculture, and Balázs Győrffy, President of the Chamber of Agriculture
- Friday: Csaba Lantos, Minister responsible for energy affairs and the circular transition
Our member company IFUA Horváth is the professional partner of PLANET Budapest 2023.
Planet 2023 is the only exhibition where representatives of not just a specific industry but a complex and highly significant business value network and ecosystem present themselves. This year, the focus is on agriculture, as well as the food industry and trade, as these sectors are crucial not only for our self-sufficiency but also for the sustainability of our economy and the health of Hungarian society. However, we aim to showcase not only sustainable solutions for these sectors but also the leading solutions of related supplier and service industries.
Date: September 27-29, 2023
Location: Budapest, HUNGEXPO
For further details: https://planetbudapest.hu/
It is important for BCSDH that all of its operations, including events, are carbon-conscious. In collaboration with GreenDependent Institute, 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 six 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.
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. Therefore it is important to understand what the business sector needs to do to foster for systemic change and speed up the process in order to protect and restore natural diversity, as well as promote climate adaptation.
This was the topic of this year’s BCSDH ‘Transform Talks’ CEO Roundtable discussion series, in which 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:
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:
