The emergence of sustainability in the practices of Hungarian and Slovak micro, small and mediumsized enterprises 1

We live in an era of transformation. In order to achieve success in transformation, we need to be aware of the nature of these global processes. We need a much deeper understanding of the significance of processes such as digitalisation or climate change. For this study, the focus will be on green transformation, sustainability and the circular economy, which are precisely the responses to climate change. We can see that climate change is indeed a problem for all of us and must be addressed as a priority. We cannot allow the Earth's atmosphere to continue to warm up, as rising temperatures have already caused significant changes to living water, agriculture and the weather, for example. This process has not only environmental but also economic and social consequences. Climate change can change people's daily lives, strongly affecting their health and mood. It is legitimate to ask. Are people aware of this process and do they know that they themselves are responsible for it? We can all do something to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change, but this requires commitment and cooperation at societal level. The solution is to create a climate-neutral economy, which will require no small commitment from economic actors. This paper focuses on the extent to which the drive for sustainability is being taken up by economic actors, in particular the small and medium-sized enterprise sector. After a literature review, the paper discusses how SMEs strive to promote sustainability by presenting the results of an international survey.