E.ON: joining forces for greener, more liveable cities

Climate change and increasingly frequent periods of drought are putting growing pressure on urban green spaces, while trees play a vital role in creating cooler, more liveable urban environments. The FŐKERT and BeEco Volunteer Watering Programme provides a community-based response to this challenge, with E.ON Hungária Group joining the initiative this year as its title sponsor and supporting it with its own awareness-raising campaign. Running from 1 July to 30 August, the initiative engaged local residents in caring for young urban trees: using the BeEco app, anyone could locate trees in need of watering and nearby water access points. Last year, the programme mobilised 1,500 volunteers, who watered 10,000 trees with more than 500,000 litres of water; this year, the initiative expanded beyond Budapest to include Pécs and Veszprém.

In addition, E.ON Hungária Group carries out tree-planting initiatives at its own sites and places particular emphasis on protecting trees, creating green corridors and choosing solutions that minimise disturbance to forested areas when developing its electricity networks. For example, the new transmission line currently under construction between Zirc and Litér is being built along the route of the existing 400 kV network rather than creating an entirely new corridor. Where tree removal cannot be avoided as part of network development, E.ON compensates through replacement afforestation: following network construction works in the Bakony region, for example, the company is planting a new contiguous forest near Lake Balaton.