One-day event on sustainability in practice for finance and business
A year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the energy discussion remains at the top of the political and business agendas in Europe and beyond. The European Union urgently needs to rethink its energy mix, infrastructure, and electricity markets in order to decrease its independence from external actors. Can sustainable finance accelerate the speed of green investments and public-private partnerships, and if yes, how?
Rethinking growth and transforming the economy is a special one-day event focused on sustainability in practice for both finance and business sectors. It is hosted by independent expert organisations in Budapest with the presence senior decision makers from public and private sectors, academia, and other relevant fields.
The event will focus on what sustainability means in practice:
how to accelerate change and transform business strategy,
how to integrate sustainability in processes and measures,
what to prioritise to ensure optimal impact and outcomes for profitability, resilience, and risk management.
The aim of the conference is to inspire, educate, and trigger thought-provoking discussions about how best to tackle climate risk and energy dependence in practice, and what solutions the EU’s Sustainable Finance Agenda offers for the competitiveness of the Hungarian economy and financial sector.
If you would like to gain access to the event or explore a partnership, please email budapest@ceesummit.org
This event is hosted under the auspices of the CEE Sustainable Finance Summit held in Prague, 15-19 May 2023.
Interested in attending?
This is an invite-only event. If you would like to attend this conference, please register your interest via the button below.
Your attendance will be confirmed via email.
For capacity reasons not all registrations might be accepted.
If your organisation would like to have guaranteed access to the event, please email budapest@ceesummit.org to enquire for partnership options, which can include additional visibility.
Agenda
30. 03. 2023, Eiffel Palace, Budapest
Budapest, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út 78, 1055 Hungary
08:30 – 09:00 | Registration
09:00 – 09:15 | Welcome remarks
09:15 – 09:30 | Opening keynote
Mr. László Balogh, Deputy State Secretary, Ministry of Finance
09:30 – 10:30 | The evasive transition: powering a new energy landscape that supports business competitiveness
A year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the energy discussion remains at the top of the political and business agendas. We need different, better energy grids and improved electricity markets, with better cross-border integration across Europe. Changing the current energy mix and grid set up will require a lot of investment and public private partnerships. In addition, the transition in energy and industrial sectors needs to be sped up.
What are the hard truths about Europe’s energy mix and electricity markets?
How can we improve the financing of energy infrastructure in Europe?
What can be done better by the different actors?
How can we solve the slow speed of energy transition, while also tackling competitiveness issues?
Speakers:
Zsolt Jamniczky, Deputy CEO, E.ON Hungaria Zrt.
Anita Simon, Deputy CEO, Sustainability and Circular Economy, Alteo Group
András Lengyel, Director and Head of Energy&Utilities Advisory Practice, PwC Hungary
Gábor Molnár, Head of Renewable Business Development, MET Group
Moderator: Dr. Barbara Botos, Hungarian Ambassador at Large for Climate, Ministry for Energy
10:30 – 11:30 | Coffee break
11:30 – 12:00 | Keynote presentation
Alexandra Köves, Associate Professor, Corvinus University
Zoltan Kurali, Chief Executive Officer Government Debt Management Agency Pte. Ltd. (ÁKK Zrt) - Hungary
12:00 – 13:00 | The EU Sustainability shift: an opportunity or a regulatory burden?
The EU’s Sustainable Finance Agenda has been both praised and criticised. Yet it represents the most advanced attempt to tidy up the messy sustainable finance standardisation space, with its effort to create a scientifically based taxonomy of sustainable economic activities, with the standardisation of EU Green Bonds, and standardisation of corporate disclosures through the CSRD. As the number of new regulations and disclosure requirements keep growing, businesses have raised concerns about disproportionate burdens that disadvantage European companies when compared to ones outside the EU, for example in Asia and the US.
How to operationalise ESG integration for better financing – what practical examples exist?
What is changing in the financial sector (banks and investors) that might affect future business financing?
How can the elusive “opportunity” be operationalised in practice? How is it done in other EU countries?
How are companies adjusting their strategies and business models considering CSRD and SFDR requirements?
Can heavy industry sectors outcompete China and the US, or will there be a danger of companies relocating to less demanding jurisdictions?
Speakers:
Gergely Jancsár, Chief Sustainability Officer for CEE, SAP
Dr. Endre Ascsillán, Vice President, GE Corporate CEE
Helena Naffa, Portfolio Manager and ESG Officer, Aegon Asset Management, Professor, Corvinus University
Moderator: Linda Zeilina, CEO, International Sustainable Finance Centre & Member of EU Sustainable Finance Platform
13:00 – 14:15 | Lunch break
14:15 – 14:30 | Keynote speech
14:30 – 15:30 | Sustainability in the real estate sector: building for the future or future-proofing buildings?
The high inflation and high energy prices in Europe have created even more uncertainty for businesses across the EU countries. At the same time, the discussions about energy efficiency and housing markets have heated up, with most governments under pressure to improve the energy performance of the building stock. For developers and construction companies, there are new challenges and demands related to decarbonisation, with pressures to reduce energy use and carbon emissions. This leads to questions about whether new strategies and financing models are necessary for the real estate sector.
What are the best practices for financing more “green” or sustainable real estate projects?
How can real estate companies do future proofing of their business models?
Which actors can play a more active and positive role in the real estate ecosystem?
What major changes will take place at the European and national level regulation-wise, and what impact are these likely to have?
What are the key demands of existing and potential future clients?
Speakers:
Áron Horváth, Head of Sustainability, CBRE Hungary
Dr Tekla Szép, Associate Professor, University of Miskolc
Róbert Fehér, CEO, 8GEnergy
Moderator: Dóra Csernus, Lead Climate and Environmental Policy Expert, Equilibrium Institute
15:30 – 16:00 | Coffee break
16:00 – 16:15 | Keynote speech
16:15 – 17:00 | Banking in times of uncertainty
In 2023, the banking sector faces unique challenges. The European energy transition and its greater focus on energy efficiency presents both a challenge and an opportunity. As political, business, and societal priorities change, banks face pressures to adapt their approaches and products. The need to better manage ESG, and especially climate-related risks, is rising – to reduce exposures to businesses that might not be viable in the near to medium term. At the same time, European supervisors are embarking on an effort to improve their skills and ability to supervise sustainability-related issues, including greenwashing, climate stress testing, and other important elements that will affect banks.
What can banks do better to manage ESG and climate-related risks?
What are the main barriers to the integration of climate-related evaluations?
What are good examples from Europe and globally of risk management and development of new practices or products to take advantage of the “green shift”? What actors could help more to drive the green shift?
Speakers:
Gabriel Marosi, Group Sustainability Officer, Erste Group
Árpád Balázs, Partner, PWC
Gábor Gyura, Sustainable Finance Consultant
Réka Hámori, Chief Economist, Hungarian Banking Association
Moderator: Tibor Schaffhauser, Co-Founder, Green Policy Center
17:00 – 17:30 | Closing remarks and conclusions of the day
Linda Zeilina, CEO, International Sustainable Finance Centre & Member of EU Sustainable Finance Platform
Michael LaBelle, Associate Professor, Central European University
17:30 | Evening reception
This is a preliminary agenda. The final and more detailed agenda will be available closer to the event date.
Speakers
More speaker announcements are coming soon!
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Contact
In case you have any queries, please contact budapest@ceesummit.org
