Let us draw your attention to the 2016 Call for Proposal of the European Union’s LIFE Programme published recently on the European Commission’s LIFE website (http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/).

LIFE is the EU’s financial instrument supporting environmental, nature conservation and climate action projects. The Programme contributes approximately €63,6 million to the Climate Action Subprogramme in 2016 in all EU member states.

Project conditions:

–          Priority areas: Climate Change Mitigation, Climate Change Adaptation, Climate Governance and Information;

–          Amount of LIFE contribution available: the average grant for project varies between EUR 500,000 and 3,500,000; the maximum rate of LIFE contribution is 60% of the total budget of the project;

–          In kind contribution: minimum 40%;

–          Submission and evaluation of LIFE proposals are independent from the Hungarian Government, however at the Ministry of National Development and the Ministry of Agriculture there are appointed government officials supporting LIFE project generation (contacts available in the files attached);

–          Mode of submission: to the European Commission (EASME) via e-Proposal;

–          Deadline for submission: 7 September 2016.

Teh description can be downloaded from here.

“This is less than 10 years so we need to invest today.” – pointed out Martin Powell at the Action 2020 Hungary Forum held by BCSDH May 11, 2016.

Martin Powell, Global Head of Urban Development Siemens and previously the Mayoral Advisor on the Environment for the current Mayor of London, held a sensational introductory speech at the Action 2020 Forum of the Business Council for Sustainable Development Hungary (BCSDH). Siemens, a leading company in sustainability, hosted the event at which company leaders and professionals participated in lectures and workshops which were designed to initiate real steps down the path of creating a low-carbon-emission economy.

“Cities are unique and they all behave very differently. We have to design our infrastructure to address this uniqueness” – explained Martin Powell, adding that “Cities have a responsibility to the life and the dreams of its citizens. We must innovate to decouple growth from environmental impact to protect all people looking to build their life in the city.”

Cities must find their own intelligent approaches and solutions in a digital world. “The Smart City is the place that uses technology to manage resources more efficiently for the benefit of the citizen and society at large. The Digital City will harmonize the flow of water, energy, transport and people, maximizing choice and minimizing disruption. It will pave the way for a safer, more affordable and low carbon future.” – pointed out Martin Powell, highlighting that the Digital City should not increase unemployment, but – according to some calculations – may create ten new jobs for each one that is lost.

Another inspiring speech at the Action 2020 Hungary Forum was held by Dr. Gábor Bartus, Secretary General of the National Council for Sustainable Development, who set out a 10-point list of the current status and trends in the low-carbon-emission economy in relation to the macro environment, explaining that business solutions should be developed within this frame. Dr. Bartus pointed out that it is no longer a question whether we are following this path or not, as we are already on it, but there are numerous challenges to be faced. The consumption of natural capital is rapidly increasing and is forecasted to reach an additional 30% by 2030. “As the changes needed are beyond political cycles, the business and civil world may be the driving force of sustainability, where the most innovative solutions may be born.” – he added.

Following the historically important Paris Climate Agreement in December, climate change is again the focal point of the Action 2020 Hungary program.

“New solutions, models and at times radical changes are needed in order to meet climate change goals. The role of the business sector cannot be disputed, and increasing its positive impact is our common responsibility.” – stated Attila Chikán Jr., President of the BCSDH, raising attention to the role of the business sector. The main aim of the Action 2020 Hungary Forum is exactly this: to initiate a collaborative approach and joint effort from the business sector in order to make a real difference. Over 50 companies have already joined the program.

You can find the photos here.

Read more about Martin Powell’s lecture.

‘Effective handling of climate change is an enormous responsibility and a business opportunity at the same time.’ – explained Diana Ürge-Vorsatz, climatologist, in her presentation at BCSDH’s business breakfast, adding that ‘companies which may not be able or are not willing to seize this opportunity can easily fall behind.’

Diana Ürge-Vorsatz, vice-president of the Nobel peace prize awarded III. Workgroup investigating the reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions (WGIII) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) held a sensational presentation at the business breakfast organised for BCSDH company leaders on March 22, 2016. BCSDH – with more than 70 company members, accounting for a total 30% of GDP – invited the well-known climatologist to the annual event to give the opening presentation for the Action 2020 Hungary program, which has climate change as its focus.

The presentation described the costs of the Paris climate agreement (accepted by 196 member states) and its potential impact on the economy.

‘Change of a similar nature to that which happened during the industrial revolution is needed, covering all fields of the economy. We must re-interpret consumption and growth-based paradigms.’ – explained Diana Ürge-Vorsatz. The climatologist described the Paris Climate agreement as a “miracle” that came true and an expression of the agreement and determination of the presidents of 196 countries to put the brakes on climate change. An agreement was established that the bottom-up approach and the top-down will.

Diana Ürge-Vorsatz raised attention to the need for the personal engagement and responsibility of company leaders too: ‘The key to change lies in personal charisma’. Further to switching from fossil fuels to a low carbon-energy economy, new business models that take into account damage to natural resources and that break with traditional ways of doing business need to be established. A share-based and even circular economy may be one such solution. Reaching the goal means reducing both use of energy and resources, as well as overall consumption. The dissemination of information technologies and other new technologies, as well as their application in new fields, may support this goal. New consumption habits, where quality replaces quantity, may become increasingly popular. Such initiatives have business potential for companies which can react to demand in a time of change.

‘The Paris summit did not solve the problem of climate change, of course, but it constituted a significance advance. When, following the new approach, commitments start to be met, the business sector will play a key role. BCSDH supports the business sector in reaching the goals that relate to Hungary, and intends that the sector should be the motor of national sustainability, mainly throughout its Action 2020 Hungary program.’ – explained Attila Chikán Jr., the newly elected president of the BCSDH. 

The Action 2020 Hungary program, established with the involvement of over 100 civilian, scientific and business experts, has taken up the task of identifying and inspiring business solutions that go beyond business-as-usual and that can be disseminated and upscaled as good practice to other economic players. Over 50 companies have joined the program already.

The presentation can be downloaded here.

Further information about the Action 2020 program may be obtained from here.

Attila Chikán Jr. was elected to new president by the general assembly of Business Council for Sustainable Development in Hungary. The new president follows István Salgó CEO of ING Bank in the position, who, according to the assembly’s unanimous decision, will assist BCSDH as an Honorary President. Under Mr. Salgó’s leadership the organization became a significant player in the recognition of sustainability’s importance in business in Hungary. The number of member companies increased to 72, which altogether are producing close to 30 percent of Hungarian GDP. The goals of Attila Chikán Jr. are ensuring the continuity of the ongoing, successful programs; making BCSDH’s activities more tangible and visible for the public and political decision makers; and improving the international relations of the organization.

The newly elected president’s work will be supported by a four-member board. Its reelected member is Zsolt Jamniczky, vice-presidend of E.ON Hungaria. The three new members are Dr. Ágnes Fábián, excecutive director of HENKEL Hungary; Zoltán Gazsi, executive director of eisberg Hungary; and Dr. Thomas Nareshubert, executive director of BASF Hungaria, elected by the assembly. The mandate of President and the Executive board is for three years.

The management of BCSDH will still be in the hands of Irén Márta, who was elected to director last year, and switched her board delegation to directorate.

“We initiated several successful programs during the last six years. “The Complex Interpretation of Corporate Sustainability”-titled base document provides a guideline for sustainable company operation to domestic leaders. Over a 100 organizations have joined our initiative by the signing the document. The success of our “Future Leaders Talent Program” is well-shown by the fact that we start the third class this year. In the meantime the Action 2020 Hungary called the business sector for action, to find professional solutions to the challenges come from the basic expectations of sustainable development” – highlighted the largest successes of the previous years’ István Salgó, according to whom, these results do not mean, that the new president will have an easy run, as the organization needs to be improved on numerous fields.

“Regarding the already started programs, my main task is to keep our momentum, and guarantee the continuity of the current, high-level professional work. I also consider sharing our results and making our activity more visible to the wider public and political decision makers as a crucial task. As Hungary, due to its size, cannot demonstrate major results on the field of sustainable development on its own, I would like to vitalize our regional co-operations and partnerships as well” – outlined his most important tasks Attila Chikán Jr., who, as leader of the Action 2020 workgroup and mentor of young leaders, actively participated in BCSDH’s professional work in the previous years.  

The new leadership of Business Council for Sustainable Development in Hungary

Attila Chikán Jr. – President
CEO
ALTEO Group

Mr. Chikán has a degree in economics and over a decade of professional and leadership experience in the field of energy. The ALTEO group, lead by him since its foundation and operating in the alternative and renewable energy sectors, as of today is already one of the most important, Hungarian-owned players in the industry. As father of two, Attila Chikán Jr. is dedicated to principles of sustainability: he writes his own blog under the name of Chikansplanet, and for the education of investors, he launched an information site named Smartivnest focusing on energy investments.

Dr. Ágnes Fábián
CEO
Henkel Magyarország Kft.
Adhesives Technologies business unit executive

Member of Henkel Magyarország Kft’s team since 1996. She became the business unit executive at the Henkel Adhesive Technologies by finding her way through the company hierarchy and spending 9 years in international environment, besides which she is also fulfilling Henkel Magyarország’s CEO position since 2011. Dr. Fábián began her career in 1990 at Biogal Gyógyszergyár Hélia’s cosmetics sales division. Later on she worked as regional sales manager at Maybeline’s and Loctite Magyarország, when Henkel aquired the company. Her aim is to make even more leaders to realize that sustainability and value creation for customers are inevitable for good performance.

Zoltán Gazsi
Managing Director
eisberg Hungary Kft.

Managing Director of eisberg since 2007. After graduating at University of Agricultural Sciences in Gödöllő, he worked for the National Institute for Agricultural Quality Control, followed by 14 years of working in a multinational environment at Syngenta: after leading the Experimental Station at Ócsa, he had various marketing- and project-coordinator jobs on increasingly large fields, including almost all continents. He believes in good examples seen at the companies have an impact on the families of the employees, on the direct and indirect environment of the company and these impacts are inevitable to start the significant changes on the level of society.

Zsolt Jamniczky
Member of the Board of Directors, E.ON Hungária Zrt.

E.ON Hungária Group’s director for central affairs since 2007 and Deputy CEO of the company since 2010. After completing his studies, Mr. Jamniczky served as an adviser in the foreign relations office of the Hungarian National Assembly. In 1996 he was appointed director for corporate affairs at the Reemtsma Hungary  Debrecen-based tobacco company. This was followed by the director for corporate affairs position at Philip Morris Hungary until 2005, then, between 2006 and 2007, Mr. Jamniczky was Philip Morris International’s director of EU government relations at the company’s Brussels office. He studied at the Budapest University of Economics and the Eötvös Loránd University of Sciences. Mr. Jamniczky’s main fields of interest include corporate sustainability, corporate social responsibility in the constantly changing economic and social environment and innovation in the energy sector.

Dr. Thomas Narbeshuber
Managing Director, BASF Hungária Kft.
Vice President, BASF Group

Vice president of BASF Group, leader of BASF South-East Europe, and Managing director of the BASF Hungary. He has a degree in Chemical Engineering and began his career as a researcher in 1995 at BASF’s centre in Ludwigshafen. During the last two decades Dr. Narbeshuber expanded his knowledge in numerous fields and countries via the company. He believes that by adopting the sustainability mindset, the company gains competitive edge, increases market share, and boosts shareholder value also besides the given social and environmental effect.

Recognising the professional work and experience of Irén Márta and the BCSDH, an honourable invitation to join the Corporate Advisory Board of Faculty of Business Administration in Corvinus University was received. BCSDH accepted the proposal of the two year membership.

It is an essential element of the mission of Corvinus University of Budapest to coordinate and develop relations between the highly educated students and the business and institutional sector.  In accordance to this the Corvinus Business School set the target to establish a corporate advisory board in 2016.

This small board meets twice a year and supports the work of the Dean directly by providing advice regarding the business requirements on education, the closer cooperation with the business sector and the with regards to the domestic and international accreditation activities.