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Beyond Zero film premiere and roundtable: sustainability is both a leadership responsibility and a corporate culture

The Business Council for Sustainable Development in Hungary (BCSDH) presented the Beyond Zero film for the first time in Hungary at an exclusive CEO event in cooperation with Sustainova, sponsored and hosted by E.ON Hungária Group.

In addition to the CEO of BCSDH member companies, members of the Net Zero Advisory Board were also invited to the event on 17 September, including Paul Fox, the UK Ambassador to Hungary, who also joined.

The event was moderated by Irén Márta, Managing Director of BCSDH, and the participants were welcomed by Attila Chikán Jr., President of BCSDH and President-CEO of Alteo, Zsolt Jamniczky, Deputy CEO of E.ON Hungária Group, Tomas Svoboda, Co-Founder and CEO of Sustainova, and Nathan Havey, writer-director of the film (via video message).

This inspiring documentary explores the personal and corporate transformation of business leader Ray Anderson, answering questions about the steps to a successful paradigm shift, how to engage leaders, convince investors and engage business partners to achieve climate goals.

After the screening, committed leaders, Tímea Pesti (Ald | LeasePlan), Zsolt Jamniczky (E.ON Hungária Group), Balázs Báthory (Market Építő Zrt.) active in sectors important to climate protection shared their thoughts and dilemmas during a round table discussion. Participants emphasized how important the faith and will of the CEOs is, so that sustainability permeates the entire organizational culture and encourages employees to take action. Observing the natural environment and gaining inspiration for specific developments from it can be of great help in the implementation of the climate goals, this is also one of the key messages of the film.

BCSDH cooperates with Sustainova in Hungary to disseminate this inspiring film for business leaders and employees to accelerate systemic change and meaningful action towards climate goals.

You can see the photo gallery of the event by clicking on the link.

18.09.2024

Speed, Porsche… Cupra, Sustainability

News

We continued in a slightly different way the first line of the well-known Hungarian pop song, as on 30 May our Race to Zero working group was hosted by Porsche Hungária Kft., where we had the opportunity to visit the Innovation and Training Centre and gain a more detailed insight into the Group’s sustainability efforts at global and local level.

In his welcome speech, Tamás Bognár, Head of Communications of Porsche Hungária, emphasized their commitment to climate protection and briefly presented the Innovation and Training Centre, which was built with HUF 2 billion of their own resources, and is used to train the professionals of the future, especially with regard to the electric car market. The Cupra brand is a flagship of the Group and of electromobility.

Melinda Tóth, Environmental and Sustainability Specialist at Porsche Hungária, presented the global and local objectives and programmes, which are implemented along a 5 pillar strategy. Of course, zero emission mobility plays a major role in this.

Electromobility was also an important topic in the next presentation, as Orsolya Barsi, Head of the Climate and Environment Department of the Mayor’s Office, presented the 100 Climate Neutral Cities project, of which Budapest is one of the participants. Businesses also have a major role to play in the implementation of climate adaptation. This was confirmed by Ada Ámon, Director of the Budapest Climate Agency, who stressed the importance of concrete cooperation with the business sector, as only together we can achieve the climate neutrality targets.

This was followed by a mini workshop organised by Deloitte with the help of Flóra Borek, Senior Manager and László Porkoláb, Senior Consultant, where we reviewed with the participants the latest trends and industry challenges of decarbonisation, with a focus on the Scope 3 assessment in the value chain and the increasing expectations towards suppliers. The issue of carbon tariffs emerged as an emerging challenge. The inputs will help to prepare the next round of the Towards Net Zero survey, which is expected to be launched in September.

The presentations were followed by a tour of the Innovation and Training Centre, where not only the educational activities but also the building itself is the result of a sustainability-conscious design, with green solutions and awareness-raising.

Our next event is the “Race to Zero on the Spot” programme on 19 September, when we will tour the Pünkösdfürdő Baths Park, dreamed up and implemented by the BKM’s Főkert (Gardening) Division, providing inspiration and ideas for corporate biodiversity programmes.

31.05.2024

Further actions for high-level cooperation were discussed by the Net Zero Advisory Board

News

What are the biggest challenges in achieving net zero goals? What kinds of collaborations and solutions can help meaningful progress and systemic changes? The Net Zero Advisory Board, established to promote the carbon neutrality of the Hungarian economy, had a meeting again.

After the welcoming words of Márta Irén, director of the BCSDH, as the host of the event held at the British ambassador’s residence, Matthew Kirlew, Head of Policy of British Embassy, greeted the participants and emphasized in his speech that they are still committed to the meaningful promotion of climate neutral actions in Hungary.

At the platform bringing together several interested parties, Attila Chikán Jr., the president of the Hungarian Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSDH), emphasized the importance of action in his welcome speech, and that in addition to climate protection, adaptation must also play an increasingly important role.

Csaba Kőrösi, the former president of the UN General Assembly, spoke about the beginning of a new era with solutions to our difficulties. In the period of wars and crises, it is a great challenge to achieve a sustainability turnaround and net zero goals. At the same time, more and more of the economic actors see that sustainable development, material and energy efficiency, the decreasing environmental footprint and social responsibility have become competitiveness factors.

Ürge-Vorsatz Diána, az IPCC alelnökeként felhívta a figyelmet arra, hogy megfelelő források állnak már rendelkezésre, hogy lényegi lépéseket tegyünk globálisan a helyzet megoldására, azonban jól kell ezeket a forrásokat elosztani és felhasználni. A múlt év végi COP28 Klímacsúcs pedig valóban nagy előrelépés volt, hiszen itt született döntés a fosszilis tüzelőanyagok kivezetéséről.

Diána Ürge-Vorsatz, prof. dr., as vice chari of the IPCC, drew attention to the fact that adequate resources are already available to take essential steps to solve the situation globally, but these resources must be distributed and used well. And the COP28 Climate Summit at the end of last year was really a big step forward, since it was here that the decision was made to phase out fossil fuels.

Orsolya Diófási-Kovács, PhD, Associate Professor at Corvinus University of Budapest and Péter Csipes at S.T.I. Managing Director of Hungary in his presentation on behalf of the Hungarian Logistics, Procurement and Inventory Society (MLBKT), “What can the logistics sector do to achieve net zero goals?” entitled, gave an insight into the challenges and next steps that await the sector in Hungary.

The participants agreed that the financing of the transition is a key issue. The resources are available, they just need to be realigned.

The board, which from now on meets twice a year, was represented by all its organizations and shared future goals and plans with the other members, where several points of connection and joint cooperation were outlined.

Participants of the Board meeting:

Zsombor Barta – Parlamentary Senior Counselor, National Council for Sustainable Development
Zsolt Bertalan – President, Smart Future Innovation Cluster
Attila Chikán Jr – President, BCSDH
Péter Csipes – Managing Director, S.T.I. Hungary – representative of MLBKT
Orsolya Diófási-Kovács, PhD – Associate Professor, Budapesti Corvinus Egyetem
Anikó Juhász – Deputy State Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture
Csaba Kandrács Dr. – Vice President, Hungarian Central Bank
András Kárpáti – President, Future Mobility Association
Matthew Kirlew – Head of Policy, British Embassy
Kocsis Kriszti – Senior Policy Officer, British Embassy
Csaba Kőrösi – Strategic Director, Blue Planet Foundation, former President of UN General Assembly
Irén Márta – Director, BCSDH
Andrea Nagy – Race to Zero Project Manager, BCSDH
Zsuzsa Némedi – Senior Trade Adviser, British Embassy
Diána Ürge-Vorsatz, Prof. Dr. – Vice Chair, IPCC, HuPCC
Gábor Szántó – Head of Climate Policy Department, Ministry of Energy
Gábor Gábor – President, Hungary Green Building Council

Click here for the photo gallery of the event.

The Net Zero Advisory Board, a multi-stakeholder, cross-sector Advisory Board made up of representatives of Hungarian industry and business leaders, the government and professional organizations, was established in January 2021 at the initiative of the British Embassy and the BCSDH.

13.05.2024

Can bee pastures be part of business strategy?

News

On 16 November, at our last Race to Zero Working Group this year, we got a better insight into the operations and long-term commitment of two of our member companies, and a definitive “yes” to the question in the title.

With the help of our host, János Kocsány, CEO of Graphisoft Park, we were able to learn about the history of the brownfield project, which is unprecedented in Europe. We chose this as one of the topics of the meeting because this year Graphisoft Park won the Sustainable Future Award in ‘Business Solution – Biodiversity‘ category for its forward-thinking solutions. Moreover, the park, with 60% green space, has an outstanding tenant loyalty index (15 years) and is not just building offices, but a cohesive community, with a special focus on nature conservation and restoration.

Graphisoft Park’s case study with results and inspiring thoughts so far is also available in the Business Solutions sub-page under Resources on BCSDH’s website, along with several other examples of companies promoting biodiversity and climate adaptation.

The presentation by András Zakar, Director General of FŐKERT Division for Urban Park Management of Budapest Public Utilities Nonprofit Plc. showed that the Főkert is responsible for the maintenance and protection of 6 million m2 of green space in 479 locations. In addition to the more familiar bee pastures, he talked about the Stockholm tree planting method, low-impact plant protection and the Miyawaki mini-forests, of which there are already six in Budapest. They have their own plant nursery and a strong focus on monitoring and testing, and then applying best practices based on the results. Sustainable operations are supported by a fleet of electric vehicles, and waste management is also a priority. The main tasks of Főkert are public, but they are also keen to help companies to protect natural diversity, either by working with them to develop or rehabilitate a new area, or by involving employees in voluntary activities. Education and awareness-raising are a priority in all activities, as they know that the only way to protect nature is to involve people.

Andrea Nagy, BCSDH’s project manager, briefly presented this year’s Race to Zero programme and the professional materials, films and presentations related to the 2023 biodiversity flagship theme, which can provide a good summary and inspiration for further strategic thinking. This was followed by the 2024 targets, where there will be a continued focus on showcasing good business practices and collecting business solutions. In addition to the traditional workshops, we will also visit external sites.

Finally, Dorka Veress, HR and PR Manager of Graphisoft Park, gave an unusual behind-the-scenes tour of the site, where we could see how an old forge is transformed into a high-tech office space, what an unused area looks like, and we also had the chance to see the Generator House. In the close-to-nature office park you can find a bee pasture, a wetland with lots of fish and plants, lots of trees and of course the Danube bank, in addition to 22 species of birds.

Many thanks to the hosts and speakers for their inspiring presentations and ideas, and to the sponsors of the Race to Zero programme for their support:

17.11.2023

Swallows, elephants and carbon dioxide, unique corporate publications: diverse topics at the Race to Zero working group

News

On September 20 the Race to Zero Working Group also focused on biodiversity conservation and restoration and the implementation of climate neutrality, with a number of good corporate practices and novelties.

This time, Szentkirályi Magyarország provided both a venue and an exciting topic for the meeting. In his welcome speech, Dániel Buzási, Managing Director, emphasized the strong commitment to sustainability at the ownership level, and one of the priority areas is the implementation of a circular economy and approach, in which the company wants to become a role model by 2025.

He was followed by Nikolett van der Wildt, Sustainability and PR Manager, who talked about the biodiversity project in the area of the factory in kékkút, emphasising that they had been inspired and partnered in a previous working group meeting. Among the many elements of the long-term programme are an artificial pond, a swallow wall and an insect hotel. The water resources of the Káli basin will be protected by monitoring wells and groundwater regulation.

Afterwards, Dávid Kovács, Marketing Director of Zwack Unicum, spoke about the sustainability goals and areas, and we learned, among other things, that between 2016 and 2020, the company achieved a CO2 reduction of more than 200 elephants (about 1200 tons) at the company level. He also gave a detailed presentation of the geothermal conversion of their plant in Dunaharaszti, the process and challenges involved. The half a billion forint investment could not have been realised without the long-term commitment of the owners, and the development, which was handed over this year, is already showing good figures: gas consumption has been reduced by 20% in 6 months.

Half a year ago, Daniella Huszár, HuGBC’s sustainability coordinator, spoke about the Advancing Net Zero initiative in the framework of the working group, and now she talked about the results and programmes of the period since then. It is very important to underline that the built environment has a huge role to play in reaching the 1.5 degrees target and halving carbon emissions by 2030. To help decarbonise buildings, a Zero Carbon Recommendation has been published under the programme.

Finally, Andrea Nagy, BCSDH’s project manager, closed the working group with the presentation of two new publications. ” Nature-Based Solutions and Voluntary Carbon Markets – Corporate Buyer’s Guide “, edited by the Central Bank of Hungary, was prepared together with WWF and other member companies as a result of the joint work of the Nature-based Climate Solutions Working Group. This publication is the first public, tangible product of the Working Group and is intended to help companies and anyone interested in the topic to find their way around the market in a clear and accessible way.

A “CEO Guide” has also been produced, which contains the main findings of the long publication, with an active link to the original document. This will also help managers to get a quick overview of the topic, and they can read the details in the Corporate Buyer’s Guide.

Thanks to the sponsors of the Race to Zero program in 2023:

22.09.2023

Green Program, regenerative agriculture, carbon-neutral buildings, nature-based climate solutions – new collaboration opportunities at the latest meeting of the Net Zero Advisory Board

News

Several new collaboration opportunities were identified at the latest meeting of the Net Zero Advisory Board on September 20th, aiming to harness synergies for the swift achievement of a climate-neutral economy. The event was moderated by Irén Márta, Director of BCSDH, who played a significant role in the establishment of the Advisory Board.

In his opening speech, Paul Fox, the Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Hungary, emphasized the importance of collaboration, as a lot of effort needs to be done to achieve climate goals. As part of the Green Deal, the EU Net Zero Industrial Partnership initiative can contribute to accelerating this, and he requested the support of the participants for this endeavor.

On the platform that brings together various stakeholders, Dr. Csaba Kandrács, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Hungary and the host of the event representing the regulatory side, highlighted that since the launch of the Green Program in 2019, their primary goal has been to promote environmental sustainability. As a novelty this year, they have extended their efforts beyond the financial system to address the entire corporate sector.

He emphasized the need for professional collaborations, such as the Nature-Based Climate Solutions working group initiated by the Central Bank of Hungary, which has prepared a specific outcome: the publication titled ‘Nature-based solutions and voluntary carbon markets – Corporate Buyer’s Guide’. This professional material, presented to the Advisory Board, was created with the professional support of BCSDH and WWF Hungary, and with the involvement of member companies. Additionally, BCSDH has prepared a CEO Guide for this occasion, which signifies that this collaboration and work will continue.

István Salgó, Honorary President of BCSDH, emphasized the importance of action, which is also the primary goal of the Business Council. It is crucial that alongside climate efforts, due attention is given to the conservation and restoration of biodiversity because these two business risks are closely interconnected.

In connection with this, Anikó Juhász, Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, reported on the Hungarian situation and possibilities of regenerative agriculture. She emphasized the importance of education and the presentation of best practices, as well as the creation of an environment where farmers can learn from each other in order to implement soil renewal solutions. Collaboration is also necessary here to take a step forward.

Gábor Szarvas, the new President of the Hungary Green Building Council (HuGBC), participated in the event for the first time and introduced their Advancing Net Zero initiative, which can significantly promote the transition to climate-neutral operations in the built environment. As part of this, they have also prepared a Zero Carbon Recommendation this year.

The series of presentations was concluded by Andrea Nagy, the project manager of BCSDH, who outlined BCSDH’s annual activities in the field of biodiversity and provided a preliminary presentation of the professional recommendations proposed for the business sector.

At the event, Kárpáti András, the new President of the Future Mobility Alliance, introduced himself.

Participants agreed that the current collaboration can be further strengthened, with numerous related areas and synergies to explore. The next board meeting will focus on logistics as one of its key topics.

Participants of the Board Meeting:

Zsombor Barta – Parlamentary Senior Counselor – Referee for International Relations, National Council for Sustainable Development
Paul Fox – Ambassador of the UK to Hungary, British Embassy
Anikó Juhász – Deputy State Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture
Dr. Csaba Kandrács – Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Hungary
András Kárpáti – President, Future Mobility Association
Kriszti Kocsis – Senior Policy Officer /Attache, Climate & Energy, Emerging Technologies, British Embassy
Marcell Kovács – Managing Director (Masped) representing MLBKT – Hungarian Association of Logistics, Purchasing and Inventory Management
Irén Márta – Managing Director, Business Council for Sustainable Development in Hungary (BCSDH)
Andrea Nagy – Project Leader, Business Council for Sustainable Development in Hungary (BCSDH)
István Salgó – Honorary President, Business Council for Sustainable Development in Hungary (BCSDH)
Gábor Szarvas – President, Hungary Green Building Council (HuGBC)

Please click here to see the photos.

The Net Zero Advisory Board, a comprehensive body representing multiple stakeholders across sectors, consists of representatives from the Hungarian industry and business leaders, government and associations. The Advisory Board was established in January 2021 as an initiative of the British Embassy and BCSDH.

21.09.2023

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

News

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

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

News

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

It’s time for action – 73% of companies have a net-zero goal

News

We are already living in the age of climate change, but we have all the tools and opportunities we need to act. Everyone can do their part to avoid the worst possible consequences. Company leaders have a special responsibility and opportunity to make positive systematic changes. The only question is how. This was the topic of the BCSDH’s business lunch held on October 13, which focused on the Time to Transform 2030 program which is aimed at fostering systemic change, and the Race to Zero program, which is helping to achieve net-zero emissions.

At the event, which was hosted by BNP Paribas, outstanding managers, leading women, and business solutions in the field of sustainability were recognized in three categories with the ‘For a Sustainable Future’ award this year.

Budapest, 13th October 2022 – “Business as usual” is not only being questioned but has been disrupted. We still have a chance to make the world a better place, but we only have a short window of time to transform our companies, our dysfunctional systems, and our society. What is needed for these changes to happen? Who can lead this change, and how? At the business lunch of the Hungarian Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSDH), the framework of the Time to Transform 2030 program launched this year was presented in search of answers to these questions.

This year, for the sixth time, BCSDH – comprising 128 member companies which produce around 30% of Hungarian GDP – presented the ‘For a Sustainable Future’ award in the categories of Change Leader, Leading Women, and Business Solution.

Csaba Kőrösi, President of the UN General Assembly, joined in live via video link from New York, greeted the participants, and thanked the BCSDH for recognizing and certifying outstanding work for sustainability. In his thank you speech, he emphasized that we are at the beginning of a new historical era. It is necessary to put action onto a new track: to manage the crisis and implement transformation at the same time. To solve the challenges of water, climate, energy, food, and inequalities in a transformative way, which requires leaders of change. The management of the complex crisis must be based on scientific evidence.

Gergely Litkai, the founder and director of Dumaszínház, who as a climate activist is committed to the cause of sustainability, drew attention to the need for personal responsibility in his humorous yet serious performance: “There is an increasing chance that we will exceed 1.5^oC, and our current lives will surely change. We are not mentally prepared for this. Everyone must first clarify what they can change. We need to mentally prepare ourselves so that we don’t experience this change as victims, but act in the hope of a good life. We need to rethink our systems to see if the measure of success is really what we think it is now, and we need to find new values that are sustainable. And what we can do, we must do, because everyone has responsibility. Individuals must change first, because all systems are built from them“ – Gergely Litkai explained.

In his introductory remarks, Attila Chikán Jr., President of the BCSDH, highlighted: “Now is the time for action. The pace and extent of changes so far are smaller than expected. We have all the tools for avoiding climate catastrophe; we just have to use them. The current crisis cannot postpone these steps. We still have a narrow window of time for the basic and immediate transformation of our systems. As the president of BCSDH, it is clear to me that companies must be at the forefront of systemic changes. Those who act earlier are apparently less likely to suffer from external effects such as rising energy prices or disruptions in supply chains. Transformation requires a change in attitude that will fundamentally change the short- and long-term ideas and decisions of business managers. This is what our Time to Transform 2030 program, which defines this decade, is all about.”

Things have to change, but how? – this question was the focus of the CEO round-table discussion moderated by Irén Márta, managing director of BCSDH, in which Dr. Zsuzsanna Diószegi, managing director of EUROAPI Hungary Kft., Sándor Baja, managing director of Randstad Hungary Kft., and Rajmond Percze, managing director of Agroloop Hungary Kft. shared their opinions.

Based on the data from the BCSDH corporate maturity survey, in the case of 85% of the participating companies sustainability aspects are integrated into management at some level, but often to a lesser degree than the development of their visions – i.e., economic aspects still often override sustainability action.

Further, according to 2022 Towards Net Zero research, the proportion of companies targeting carbon neutrality has more than doubled (73%) compared to last year’s survey, and 79% of companies have some kind of emission-reduction goals, but only 60% have specific goals, and only 44% are measuring at least Scope 1 and 2 emissions.

Main sponsor of Race to Zero program: Budapest Airport. Highlighted sponsor: E.ON, Denkstatt: Sponsors: Alteo, Buildext, Leaseplan, Unilever.

Sponsor of BCSDH’s carbon-conscious events: LeasePlan.

13.10.2022