In May 2015 a new chapter of the Action 2020 Hungary program kicked off with serious intellectual energy within the walls of program sponsor KPMG. The Business Council for Sustainable Development in Hungary (BCSDH) introduced its major sustainability program which calls the Hungarian business sector to action. After having identified the goals it is now time for companies to contribute to implementation by making commitments and identifying business solutions.

In five groups of experts more than 60 representatives from the civil, scientific and business sector discussed the effect of the measurement indices and started to identify exemplary business solutions.

‘Work based on live discussions between each sphere and immediate feedback ensured the creation of an inspiring and creative framework for the successful fulfilment of the tasks that were undertaken. It would make sense to continue with that kind of directness and method of cooperation. It could also create value for the other working groups of BCSDH’ – explained Attila Chikan Jr., Action 2020 Hungary Working Group Leader and CEO of ALTEO.

During the workshops, the experts tried to identify forward-looking stimulus measures which could be employed to meet all the planned objectives. Mandy Fertetics, Head of Corporate Programs BCSDH, added: ‘The most difficult task is to identify indicators and metrics since we have to take into consideration different business sizes, industries and activities, but we also have to make it possible to summarize the results. In addition, the reference base year, the measurement of changes in units, the investment of the enterprises’ resources (on the input side) and the selection of result and impact indicators also represents a challenge.’

Dr. László Pintér, professor at the Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy at CEU and Senior Fellow and Associate of The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) praised the uniqueness of the consultation process: ‘This Hungarian process is also unique in terms of its international cooperation and the way that the business sector is playing such a proactive and forward-looking role in initiating cooperation with prominent scientific and civil experts to develop national sustainability goals. The participatory process itself creates exemplary and important benefits, not to mention the significance of addressing the upcoming questions: the integration of macro level risks into business, the measurement of effects and the identification of business solutions that go beyond business as usual.’

Exciting issues arose from the discourse at the thematic workshops, including the question of the use of fresh water, the contradiction between the capacity utilisation of fresh water supply and the efficiency of water usage, methodological difficulties with measuring carbon footprints, the need to integrate the concept of the circular economy, the difficulties of assessing ‘fair wages’ and the business solutions concerning non-ownership models of consumption.

The result of this process is a Tool Kit which can help companies to make commitments that can be monitored, in addition to identifying related business solutions or inspiring companies to find their own business solutions. Through this we may inspire even more companies outside BCSDH’s membership circle to contribute with business solutions to serious Hungarian social, environmental and economic challenges.

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Action 2020 Hungary:

The Action 2020 Hungary program is the Hungarian adaptation of the global Action 2020 program of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development – WBCSD.

Action 2020 Hungary is a platform for calling the business sector to action and for identifying the most important social, environmental and economic facts, trends and goals.

In contributing to these goals, business solutions are identified and concrete action is taken on the path to sustainable development. Food and Feed, Employment, Sustainable Lifestyles, Climate Change and Water are five focal areas for Hungary where sustainability challenges can be identified on a macroeconomic level that may have great impacts on social and economic welfare and the competitiveness of the business sector.

More than 100 scientific and civil experts and business CEOs actively contributed to defining the goals for Hungary.

Read more: www.action2020.hu

Regarding the financial expenses, it costs only 5% more globally for the economy to opt for the sustainable solution when it comes to development.

On March 26, 2015 Kitty van der Heijden, European Director of the World Resources Institution, one of the most influential persons dealing with sustainability hold a power speech at the business breakfast organized by the Business Council for Sustainable Development in Hungary (BCSDH), the Netherlands-Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

István Salgó, president of the Business Council highlighted the importance of the Action 2020 program, while H.E. Gajus Scheltema, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands emphasized the economical importance of sustainable thinking.

From the aspect of the economic growth the world has reached excellent results in the previous 20 years, in the field of social justice we can be moderately satisfied: two billion more people have access to safe drinking water, 90% of the children participate at primary education, the number of the people, who are living less than 1,25$ per day, has reduced by 50 %. Nonetheless we haven’t improved any of the ecological indicators: 3,3 million people dies due to air pollution per year, 13 million ha forest area disappears per year, the CO2 emission has increased by 50%, and what is most threatening: the negative trends are growing exponentially.

In order to secure that economic growth and environment protection go hand in hand, radical and effective changes are necessary – stressed Kitty van der Heijden in her presentation. ‘Certainly there will be losers among companies and industries – especially, if they do not begin the change of their strategy in time, however, at the same time the majority of the companies can benefit greatly from the new solutions. What is the difference if the companies, from sustainable aspect, choose the right or the wrong solution? It costs only 5% globally.’ – she emphasized.

The guests learnt how the global and environmental challenges affect directly the Hungarian economy or the future operation of their companies. It became evident for the skeptics that there are a lot of new solutions and tools available, so the core problem does not lay there. The difficulty is to leave our old, well-tried solutions and practices even if those seem more viable in short-term. Those companies who have been focusing solely on financial profit are also being more and more forced to take into consideration other, not even financial risks when they determine their strategy. ‘In the coming years we have to learn how we can optimize our strategy during our decision-making in the following four dimensions: climate change, growth of the population, vulnerability of the biosphere and economic growth.’

The internationally renowned opinion leader stressed the importance of the economic growth among the four dimensions: ‘There is no doubt, that economic growth is necessary. The unemployment has to be alleviated, the social injustice has to be reduced, pensions and health care systems are necessary etc. – to reach that, we need economic growth. The question is not that we should choose between growth or sustainable development but which green solutions we can adapt that facilitate our economic development.’

At the end of her presentation Kitty van der Heijden highlighted the importance of accountability and transparency which is nowadays not a voluntary commitment of the companies. It is becoming a constrain mainly for the global companies and their subsidiaries; so companies that take the new challenges seriously, will have more competitive advantage.

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Kitty van der Heijden is the Director of WRI’s (World Resources Institute) Europe Office. Prior to this role Kitty was the Ambassador for Sustainable Development and Director of the Department for Climate, Energy, Environment and Water in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. In 2014, she was elected as “Influencer of the Year” among civil servants, and listed as 20th in the top 100 most influential people in the Netherlands dealing with sustainability

At a General Meeting of the Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSDH) held on 24th February, 2015 Eszter Chikán-Kovács, the new Communications Manager, was introduced. The need for the new position was bought about by the successful development of the organization.

Ida Petrik, Managing Director, said that the high standard of professional programs as well as the growing number of member companies make it increasingly important to improve internal and external communication. She emphasized that it is her pleasure that a senior specialist who had previously supported the communication-related work of BCSDH as a volunteer is now joining the organization.

Eszter Chikán-Kovács has gathered more than 10 years’ professional experience, mostly in marketing, (working in the field of brand marketing and strategy) but she has also gained experience in PR and web marketing too. She has given lectures on Marketing Strategy in higher education and worked as senior brand manager at Zwack Unicum Plc. for a long time. Now, as the mother of two young children, Eszter is returning to working life.

Eszter’s main reason for wanting to assist with the communication work of BCSDH was the inspiring fact that the organization’s work combines the promotion of economic interests with increasing social and environmental utility and defines a path by which committed business leaders may be inspired to find new business solutions that bring into being a more liveable future. She is also attracted by the opportunity to gain new professional experience. Another important reason for joining the organisation is that the BCSDH offers family-friendly working conditions, which is crucial for Eszter, the mother of two small children.

According to Eszter, her most important task as the new Communications Manager is to make more visible the idea of corporate sustainability in business media by highlighting member companies’ best practices in order to show good examples to other companies. Her strategic tasks include deepening media relations and taking advantage of the synergy between the communications activities of BCSDH and its member companies.

Based on the success of the previous year’s BCSDH Future Leaders Program, 25 talented young managers started this year’s development program on the 27^th January.

What is common to the Accounts Manager of E.ON, the Consumer Sales Manager of SCA Hygiene, the PR Coordinator of Coca Cola HBC Hungary, the HR Manager of Magyar Lapterjesztő, the Production Manager of Grundfos and the Marketing Manager of Shell? Certainly the fact that they are very talented professionals, that they have already proven their leadership potential during their few year’s business working experience and that they all have a maximum of a few years’ management experience. This is why they are participating in the nine-month Future Leaders’ Talent Program where they will get to know more about the theoretical background of sustainable development and be introduced to good, practical case studies of corporate sustainability.

At the opening ceremony held on the 27^th January 2015 at Siemens participants had the opportunity to meet each other and the program-supporting mentors for the first time. President István Salgó  emphasized in his welcome speech that the complex interpretation of corporate sustainability is accurately captured in the ‘Recommendation of Business Leaders of BCSDH’ which provides the structure of the educational program, covering most of the important areas of corporate sustainability for current and potential business leaders. Dale A. Martin, CEO of hosting company Siemens, stressed the importance of the program which is not only forward-looking from a macro-economic perspective but can also have benefits at a corporate level; this is why Siemens has already delegated two managers to participate in the program this year. Ida Petrik, Managing Director of BCSDH, drew attention to the key successes of last year’s program: the fact that member companies, mentoring corporate professionals and open-minded, talented participants worked together and shared experiences to successfully accomplish the learning and development goals of the program.

The newly-appointed Head of Corporate Programs of the BCSDH, Mandy Fertetics, introduced this year’s program in detail and introduced the mentor companies who are actively involved in the forthcoming program (Alteo, BDL, Ben&Loch Lomond, Biofilter, Budapest Airport, Coca-Cola HBC, Dandelion, E.ON, Grundfos, Holcim, HUGBC, KPMG, McDonald’s, MOL, Richter Gedeon, Siemens, Telenor, Unilever and Zwack). Different methods will be used in the program, which is based on group learning, to enhance learning and development outcomes. They include company visits, case studies, round table discussions, CEO interviews, presentations and interactive exercises.

During the dinner entertainment was provided by a sustainability test and a game which helped the guests to get to know each other. Dale A. Martin – who should receive an Oscar for his performance – acted the role of a fictive CEO who needed convincing about the importance of one of the Action 2020 Hungary program goals (as chosen by the group). The brave candidates came up with a wide range of creative ideas about how to harmonize business opportunities with sustainability challenges.

The 24 participants of the Future Leaders Program Hungary 2015 are delegates of the following BCSDH member companies: BASF, BDL, Biofilter, Budapest Airport, Coca-Cola, Coface, eisberg, E.ON, Generali Biztosító, Grundfos, KPMG, Magyar Lapterjesztő, McDonald’s, Nestlé, SCA, Shell, Siemens, Syngenta and Unilever. One more participant is the recipient of a scholarship awarded to the winner of a competition for university students: Beke Tomaj, an M.Sc. student from ELTE Science University.

More photos you can find here: http://bcsdh.hu/galeria/?album=1&gallery=25

If you would like to know more about the program or watch the video of 2014, click here:

http://bcsdh.hu/temak/jovo-vezetoi/

This sustainable development goal pays special attention to the most urgent issues of municipal water management, ranging from access to drinking water, through waste water treatment to flood protection. In addition, the new multi-annual financial framework of the EU started in 2014. This provides an excellent opportunity to evaluate the experiences and know-how gained from the thousands of water-related development projects, worth over 10 billion Euros, that have been completed during the 2007-2013 programming period as well as to look ahead at the plans for the 2014-2020 cycle.

The objective of the Budapest Water Conference 2015 is therefore to summarize the achievements of the recent period in the field of municipal water management, to discuss the timely challenges of the sector and to adopt recommendations for the planning period to come in the light of the new development goals. In this context, the conference will specifically focus on the long term financial and technological sustainability of water services and infrastructure. In addition, special attention will be paid to support activities that are indispensable for high quality water services, such as engineering services, customer services, finance, education and training, administrative capacity.

The joint conference is designed to serve as an open and dynamic platform that enables participants to gain knowledge – through tried-and-tested solutions and practical examples presented by professionals from all around the world – on how experts handle the above challenges under similar or different circumstances.

The three day event will thus provide a timely opportunity for public and private sector decision-makers, water utility professionals, experts and other stakeholders from the developed and the developing world to exchange views and share experiences with leading international experts on the most pressing challenges and potential solutions in the field municipal water management.

During the entire programme a water industry expo will be open at the venue of the conference.

EWA Spring Days 2015
Budapest Water Conference

Programme

The opening day of the conference (4 March, Wednesday) will first discuss, in plenary format, the most important global and regional municipal water management issues in light of the recommendations of the 2014 Budapest Water Summit and the UN sustainable development goal on water. The subsequent session will be dedicated to evaluating the experiences of the EU’s previous planning cycle (2007-2013) and the development objectives and plans of the current financial framework in the field of water policy. Finally, the speakers will consider the regulatory and financial environment of water services in view of such major drivers as climate change and urbanization.

The second day of the conference (5 March, Thursday) will comprise three rounds of parallel panel sessions dedicated to the topical planning, technological and social challenges of municipal water management, such as water security/security of service, integrated municipal water resources management, education and training or stakeholder engagement.

On the final day (6 March, Friday), following the closing of the formal conference discussions, participants will be invited to visit some key water infrastructure sites in Budapest.

Programme »

Speakers »

Registration »

You can find here how to become sponsor of the event: SponsorPackage