BCSDH urges regional and corporate cooperation

“The circular economy is the business model of the future” – said Jacqueline Cramer on April 25, 2018 at the BCSDH Business breakfast and Action 2020 Forum, which was focused on promoting sustainable lifestyles and, more specifically, the circular economy.

 Professor Jacqueline Cramer, circular economy ambassador of the district of Amsterdam and former Dutch Environment Minister, gave a great performance at the Business Council for Sustainable Development in Hungary’s (BCSDH) Business Breakfast and Action 2020 Forum. The organization’s Business Breakfast – which involves a forum of 81 member companies that produce 30% of Hungary’s GDP – was followed by workshops with business leaders and experts that will help the business sector to take meaningful steps regarding the promotion of sustainable lifestyles.

 “The full implementation of the circular economy requires the appropriate scale. In this, regional or corporate communities are crucial. The inevitable first step is sharing knowledge and experiences and undertaking joint action which can accelerate the emergence of sustainable supply chains and thereby drive the expansion of the circular economy. By becoming part of such a community, we can take shared steps that we would never be able to manage on our own.” – explained Jacqueline Cramer.

According to some estimates, the circular economy has business potential of 4500 billion USD by 2030 globally.

“Transitioning to a circular economy is one of the greatest business opportunities nowadays. The core of the concept is not yet deeply acknowledged by most companies, although use of this model can increase the flexibility of the economy and facilitate the achievement of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. BCSDH is a corporate community that can help companies share knowledge and experiences, as well as contribute to working as a team in this area”- said Attila Chikán, President of the BCSDH in his introduction.

Hungary’s ecological footprint is 3.6 gha per person, although available bio-capacity is only 2.68 global hektar (gha) per capita – as with many other countries in the world, there is considerable over-consumption in Hungary too. A sustainable economy can only be based on sustainable consumption. The main objective of the Action 2020 Hungary program is to ensure sustainable consumption by fostering adequate levels of supply and demand that will result in a better quality of life, while taking ecological limits into account.

“The circular economy is just one of the areas that plays a major role in achieving the goals of the Action 2020 Sustainable Lifestyle, and probably it is also the biggest challenge today in Hungary. The other two priority areas are sustainable products and services, as well as consumer decisions. During the Forum we have tried to explore and identify existing business solutions that provide immediate-, short- and medium-term results”- said Valentin Póka, Country Manager of Coface, BCSDH’s Action 2020 Sustainable Lifestyle Working Group Leader.

The primary purpose of the Action2020 Forum was to launch and support effective teamwork and joined-up thinking in the business sector while creating a real impact. Fifty-seven companies have already joined the program.

The main sponsors of the Action 2020 Hungary program include Mastergood and Nestlé, while the highlighted sponsors are Alteo, McDonald’s, MOL and Unilever. Other sponsors include E.On, Essity, Folprint, HVG, KPMG and Rossmann.