Already 133 companies have expressed their high level of commitment to sustainability in Hungary

By: STA Date: 2023. 03. 02. 10:30

The Hungarian Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSDH) has reached a new level in corporate sustainability as an organization bringing together the top managers of 133 responsible companies. At the Members’ Meeting held on the MOL Campus, the member companies adopted the “Guidelines for sustainable corporate management”, expressing that they wish to set a good example and undertake to manage their company according to these guidelines.

“Guidelines for sustainable corporate management” formulate in a complex way how a sustainable company should operate. With the creation of the Management Guidelines, our goal was to formulate guidelines that provide guidance to managers of domestic companies in terms of sustainable corporate governance. BCSDH’s membership consists of responsible managers of leading companies in this field, who, upon joining, undertake by signing that wherever they are in this process, they accept these guidelines as guidelines and are committed to leading their company on this path.” – said István Salgó, the honorary president of the BCSDH, who accompanied him throughout and supported the entire process with his professional knowledge.

We developed the “guidelines of sustainable corporate management” based on our Executive Recommendation, as part of our Time to Transform 2030 program, in accordance with the member company criteria system of the WBCSD. In order to see the progress of our members in this process, we track their results annually in our graduation survey. Our goal is to help them by revealing their areas of development and showing them the good practices that will help them achieve real changes and accelerate the process.” – added Márta Irén, the executive director of the organization, after the acceptance of the report on the year 2022.

Now is the time to act

The BCSDH stated as its goal for 2023 that member companies and the business sector should be supported by climate-neutral operations, the objectives necessary to restore biodiversity, an inclusive corporate culture and operation that supports equality and diversity and fully respects business human rights, as well as the in the field of achieving the highest level of transparency.

“Now is the time to act. Together with our 133 corporate members, we believe that small steps are no longer enough, that malfunctioning systems need to be changed immediately. We believe that the corporate sector should be at the forefront of these changes. Those who act earlier apparently suffer less from external effects, such as rising energy prices or disruptions in supply chains. Transformation requires a change in attitude that fundamentally changes the short- and long-term ideas and decisions of business managers. It is important for BCSDH to be a community of highly committed companies and company managers, which is why such a broad acceptance of the “Guidelines for sustainable company management” is a significant step.” – explained Attila Chikán Jr., the president of the BCSDH.

This is supported by long-term and annual professional work

The Time to Transform 2030 framework program defining the decade was born to accelerate the systemic transformation, including the Race to Zero initiative, helping the Hungarian economy to become climate neutral by 2050, the Circular Economy Platform, which aims to accelerate the transition to a circular economic model, and ESG working group, which prepares member companies for the expected stricter regulation by sharing knowledge. The “Future Leaders” talent program, which is in its 10th anniversary year, continues to support as a gap-filling program so that as many company leaders as possible understand the “Guidelines of sustainable company management” and incorporate them into everyday company operations.