"The expertise, the commitment and the willingness to cooperate are there in the sectoral and federal, professional, public, scientific and industrial actors, but the political recognition of the value of water requires a change in social attitudes and the resulting political will! "
The recent Danube floods, the biggest in recent years, and the fight against them have shown that climate change is unfortunately part of our everyday lives. However, we are often unprepared for the scale of the extreme weather impacts it can cause, and we need to think ahead and plan carefully to avert the unexpected. This is not possible without cooperation, collaboration and partnership.
In this spirit, the Hungarian Water Partnership and the CED Central European Economic Development Network jointly organised the Hungarian-Slovak Water Industry Meeting in Komarno, Slovakia on 19 September 2024 with the special support of Pureco.
Dr Kovács Károly PhD, a Pureco ügyvezetője, a HWP és a MaSzeSz elnöke
The event, which provided an excellent opportunity to strengthen cross-border sectoral cooperation and promote bilateral professional dialogue on water, was unique as the positive impacts of the ESG expectations and regulations on the water sector have not yet been studied.
Bálint Horváth, CEO of Pureco participated in the panel discussion on the role, future and tasks of the Hungarian and Slovakian water utility operators, and actors. Where the experts stated that although every country is different, every regulation, every municipality, and every problem is different, the water challenges are the same in Hungary and Slovakia as well. The infrastructure development, the reconstruction intensification enlargement needs of the systems, and sustainable alternatives that can be adapted to local specificities are essential for the future. Proper preparation and preliminary economic analysis are inevitable.
From left to right: Dr Károly PhD, Dr Igor Bodik president, ACE, Mr Gábor Brandstatte from Budapest Waterworks, Dr Stanislav Hreha president AVS, Mr Bálint Horváth Bálint HWP secretary general
The participating experts agreed that, besides the importance of infrastructure development, water utility companies should pay special attention to the European Union's green transition requirements, the EU Taxonomy and its ESG requirements.
The presentation by the experts of Ernst and Young (EY) and ARPenviro, s.r.o., gave a detailed presentation on Green Business - Taxonomy - ESG expectations. This was followed by a panel discussion on ESG-related technical solutions for the water industry and case studies from industrial companies. The panel included experts from MOL Group Hungary, Volkswagen Slovakia, HELL Energy Hungary, Jaguar Land Rover Slovakia s.r.o., and Pureco representing the water industry. The panellists presented how they are preparing to meet the growing sustainability-related expectations, how and where water is relevant to them, and how climate change and the current record floods affect them.
From left to right: Mgr. Hletková Michaela Ploszeková MBA, Volkswagen Bratislava, Ms Eszter Mihály CSR leader, Hell Energy. Mr, Martin Drozd Jaguar Land Rover Slovakia s.r.o. , Mr Bálint Horváth Bálint Pureco Kft. CEO
Participants agreed that, independently of the environmental, social and corporate governance reporting obligations, the sustainability value chain reporting obligation, which is now present not only for water utilities but also for the water industry and other businesses from the supply chain, is a major challenge, even for companies that are not themselves required to report. The green transition is no longer the future, it's already here, preparation is important, those who fall behind are simply left out.
In his closing remarks Dr. Károly Kovács PhD, President of the HWP and former member of the EU Sustainable Finance Taxonomy Platform highlighted that the expertise, the commitment and the willingness to cooperate are there in the sectoral and federal, professional, public, scientific and industrial actors, but the political recognition of the value of water requires a change in social attitudes and the resulting political will.
At the end of the presentations and panel discussions, the Hungarian and Slovakian companies participating in B2B negotiations.
The motto of the successful event was partnership, the importance of knowledge sharing and exchange of experiences between Hungarian and Slovak experts and the participants.
The resultant common thinking and cooperation between actors from within and outside the sector will lead to more successful cooperation in the future.
