The Minister of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, Isabel García Tejerina, presented the Red Emprendeverde Awards, awards that reward “the initiative of people who demonstrate that the construction of a sustainable development model, based on a more efficient use of our natural resources, does not have to wait for the future, because it is already present”.

“We have the responsibility to protect the environment effectively and, at the same time, to be more competitive, grow and create employment, for which innovation and entrepreneurship are an essential engine,” he added.
In this context, the minister assured that “Spain has human capital of enormous value, to make green entrepreneurship a real opportunity to generate wealth and employment“. For the minister, environmental protection can and should go hand in hand with economic and social development. Therefore, “we must work on the effective integration of both aspects to guarantee social well-being in the medium and long term”.
To achieve this objective, García Tejerina pointed out that, within the framework of the European Union, “we have tools such as the European Strategy for Sustainable Development or the new Framework on Energy and Climate until 2030”.
And at the national level, a series of actions have been launched such as the Climate Projects, the Plans to Promote the Environment and the Carbon Footprint initiative. A Roadmap has also been presented to advance in meeting the emission reduction targets in diffuse sectors by 2020.

ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
García Tejerina referred to the measures promoted by the Government, such as the Law on Entrepreneurs and their Internationalization or the Strategy for Entrepreneurship and Youth Employment 2013-2016.
To carry out these initiatives, “we need professionals with initiative, capable of capturing the business opportunities offered by the green economy and designing sustainable solutions that benefit everyone”.
In this regard, García Tejerina mentioned the Empleaverde Program, launched by the Ministry and co-financed by the European Social Fund, as an example of the boom of this type of initiative. Specifically, this programme has allowed, to date, the development of more than 250 projects and collaboration with nearly 500 organisations, thanks to a total budget of 42 million euros.
In this context, the minister recalled how last May 35 collaboration agreements were presented for the promotion of employment and green companies, through which projects worth 1.8 million euros have been launched.

RED EMPRENDEVERDE AWARDS
On the other hand, the minister highlighted the large number of applications submitted to the second edition of the Red Emprendeverde Awards (265), 40% more than in the last edition, “which shows that more and more people are joining the commitment to the sustainable economy, eco-innovation and the conservation of biodiversity”.
In the case of the five winners (Solar Aerothermal Collector, Pecocos, Bluemove Carsharing, Cartonlab and La Pina), they address very diverse activities such as the use of energy from renewable resources, to the search for alternative solutions to industrial cosmetics, incorporating ecological and healthy components; the promotion of the collaborative economy and the improvement of sustainable mobility; the development of versatile, reusable and recyclable products, and the management of small private forests.
Finally, García Tejerina congratulated all the winners and the 35 pre-finalists “for contributing, with your work and your enthusiasm, to a more sustainable economic and social model”.