The aims of KÖVET

Our story

KÖVET Association for a Sustainable Economy was founded on 19 October 1995 by 26 Hungarian companies under the name of the Environmentally Conscious Business Management Association. The founders represented a wide range of economic sectors and, more than 20 years ago, they were already ahead of their time in considering responsible operation and environmental protection as important. They certainly deserve to be named:

ARAL HUNGÁRIA Kereskedelmi és Szolgáltató Kft., BBL Tanácsadó Kft., BIOKOM Pécsi Környezetgazdálkodási Kft., Caola Kozmetikai és Háztartásvegyipari Rt., COOPERS & LYBRAND Könyvvizsgáló és Vezetési Kft., CORVINBANK Ipari Fejlesztési Bank Rt., DUNALAKK Festékgyártó és Szolgáltató Kft., GOMA  Csomagolástechnikai és Csomagolóanyag-gyártó Kft., Hungarian Data Systems Kft., KLISÉ Papír- és nyomdaipari Szolgáltató és Kereskedelmi Kft., Magyar Villamos Művek Rt., MERTCONTROL Minőségellenőrző Rt., MOL Magyar Olaj- és Gázipari Rt., Mölnlycke Higiéniai és Egészségügyi Termékeket Gyártó Kft., NATURA Környezetvédelmi Tanácsadó Kft., OTP Bank Nyrt., Paksi Atomerőmű Rt., PERION Akkumulátorgyár és Rt., REM-RWE Entsorgung Magyarország Környezetvédelmi Kft., Richter Gedeon Vegyészeti Gyár Rt., SHELL Hungary Kereskedelmi Rt., STENUM GmbH Közvetlen Kereskedelmi Képviselet, Szenzor P-E Gazdaságmérnöki Kft., TETRA PAK HUNGÁRIA Csomagolási Rendszer Rt., TÜV Rheinland Hungária VRF Minőségügyi, Környezetvédelmi, Biztonságtechnikai és Rendszerfejlesztési Kft.

And even though since its foundation several companies have left KÖVET, some of them even Hungary itself, and the number of our corporate members has increased considerably, we still have great respect for the “pioneers” who had the courage to vote confidence in a fledgling organisation that had not yet taken up a very curious cause. And we are particularly grateful to those who have continued to move forward with us to this day.

KÖVET was founded by companies but organised by people. One of the first to be mentioned is Dr. Georg Winter, a former German industrialist who paid great attention to environmental awareness in Germany even before the various ISO environmental standards were introduced. He founded the INEM (Network for Environmental Management), an organisation that has been instrumental in the creation of KÖVET. The Foundation for Industrial Technical Development (IMFA), then headed by Dr. Tamás Kemény, played an important role in the founding of the association, and its successor, IFKA, is still an important partner of KÖVET. The organisational work related to the foundation was carried out by a four-member Voluntary Organising Committee, in which, in addition to the already mentioned Tamás Kemény, Mrs. Lajos Csernátoni, Miklós Pákh, Gergely Tóth and György Viszkey worked with dedication and responsibility.

KÖVET initially focused specifically on the environment. It has developed several important and still popular products, from the Green Office to the Money Thrown in the Window. It has also placed a strong emphasis on awareness-raising, organising conferences, lectures and workshops. As the situation of our planet worsened and it became increasingly clear that threats were looming not only for the environment but also for society and the economy, KÖVET broadened its profile and, while maintaining environmental protection, paid increasing attention to other areas of sustainability. Today, the association aims to help its associated companies and other institutions on the path to sustainability. To this end, it has developed new services (e.g. organisation of a stakeholder forum, Strategic Sustainability Audit, ISO 26000 certification, etc.).

In the meantime, the number of our member companies has grown to over 100, and more and more associate members have joined the organisation (which do not pay membership fees and have almost the same rights as corporate members). But frankly, we are not “numbers driven”, even if we do care about dues income. But it is more important that KÖVET operates as a community of professionals and values, where everyone knows exactly why they are a member. Our aim is first and foremost for our companies and associates to learn from each other, to share knowledge and experience. To this end, we organised our working groups (CSR Managers Forum, Environmental Working Group, Energy Working Group) at the end of 2011, we organise company visits, KÖVET Clubs and exchanges of experience. We believe that a well-tested, well-thought-out solution is worth sharing with others.

We consider it important to follow and share international processes and information with our members, as the world does not stop at our borders. That is why we joined CSR Europe, which is at the forefront of CSR processes in Europe, the Global Footprint Network, which is at the forefront of ecological footprint research, became a professional cooperating organisation of the GRI and maintained our membership of INEM.

KÖVET is not only an organisational body, but also a creative intellectual one. Under the leadership of Gergely Tóth, Secretary General, we are thinking a lot about the foundations of a new economic paradigm that could be an alternative to the current principle based on the trinity of competition-efficiency-growth. We have called this new direction bionomics.

In the more than two decades of KÖVET’s history, many people have come to work for the association, many of whom have gone on to hold important positions in companies. Our aim is also to provide young professionals working for us with an outlook that they can use later on in their corporate workplace, thus deepening the sense of responsibility of the company concerned.