His Majesty the King today presided over the award ceremony of the 2019/2020 European Business Awards for the Environment for Business, awarded by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, and whose Spanish section is coordinated by the Biodiversity Foundation.
His Majesty the King today presided over the award ceremony of the 2019/2020 European Business Awards for the Environment for Business, awarded by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, and whose Spanish section is coordinated by the Biodiversity Foundation.
Teresa Ribera, Vice-President and Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, accompanied the King at the presentation of these awards, where she highlighted the importance of integrating environmental objectives into business activity, which is key to a green recovery. He also pointed out that from the Government “we will continue to work with the administration, companies, social agents, and with the whole of the public so that the recovery in our country is a green, sustainable recovery, which guarantees the future of the next generations”.
His Majesty the King has recognised the commitment of the award-winning companies and their potential as leaders of change to break traditional models and incorporate environmental objectives into their vision and strategy.
In this edition, ambitious bets in the field of management or in which the environment represents the main added value for the company have been awarded. The development of proprietary and innovative tools that support the review of business strategies, consider environmental issues in a comprehensive way or represent a change in the way of operating has been valued. Emphasis has also been placed on small companies, whose effort in relation to their size represents a firm business commitment and also represents an excellent niche for innovation.
The Vice-President pointed out that the business fabric that integrates sustainable management, biodiversity conservation, adaptation to climate change, circular economy, environmental security and ecological restoration into its economic activity “is making a safe bet and not only for the future, but also for the present”.
FIVE CATEGORIES
The 2019/2020 call for these awards has included five categories: management, product/service, process, international business cooperation and business and biodiversity. 115 applications have been submitted for this edition, representing a wide range of sectors of activity in the Spanish economy, such as energy, food, industry, services and agriculture and fisheries, among others. After its evaluation, the jury has valued the high level of innovation and technological development of the initiatives presented in the different categories. Initiatives that demonstrate an economic activity compatible with the conservation of biodiversity, the restoration of ecosystems or support for the development of rural areas are also noteworthy.
The jury, made up of 16 experts in sustainability and business, has decided the winners unanimously, with a total of 10 winners and 15 runners-up. Likewise, the jury has decided the 12 candidatures that will participate in the European edition of these awards, which will be held on November 3.
PRIZES AND RUNNERS-UP
In the management category, the initiative proposed by Naturgy was awarded for its decisive strategy towards an energy transition and a new business approach to sustainability, incorporating innovative management tools. As a small company, a Tecnoresiduos R3 project has been awarded for its waste management based on its credibility, added value and competence in its EMAS certification since the beginning of its activity. In this first category, the initiatives of Ferrovial and El Corte Inglés have obtained a second prize.
In the second category, product/service, FCC Medio Ambiente’s proposal was awarded for innovation in the implementation of 100% electric heavy vehicles for the provision of urban services. As a small company, SOUJI has been recognized for offering an innovative and simple solution to reuse vegetable oil in one’s own home, transforming it into soap. Smurfit Kappa Sangüesa, Idai Nature and Eroski Sociedad Cooperativa have received a second prize in this category for their submitted proposals.
In the process category, the project developed by Cepsa Química was awarded, which is committed to improving the manufacture of a component of detergents for domestic use, which involves less consumption of natural resources and less hazardous waste. Agroamb Prodalt has been recognised as a small company thanks to a project of great interest in the field of biodegradable waste for the agri-food sector with an alternative process to the current one of composting and anaerobic digestion.
The jury has awarded six runners-up prizes to processes implemented in: Compo Global Solutions, Transferencia e Innovación Tecnológica Agroalimentaria, Tejidos Royo, Corporación Alimentaria Peñasanta, García Carrión and Strategic Minerals Spain.
In the international business cooperation category, the jury awarded an initiative presented by Acciona, which consists of a program, an example of public-private partnership, for access to sustainable and reliable energy, water and sanitation for isolated rural communities in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. As a small company, Basoinsa has been awarded for carrying out the methodological transfer in the field of ecological restoration and management of river systems in Cundinamarca (Colombia).
Finally, in the business and biodiversity category, the award for large company has gone to the comprehensive solution to the challenge of water in its operations and a solid commitment to compensation of the water footprint linked to environmental restoration of protected areas and sustainable crops in Andalusia that Heineken Spain is carrying out. For its part, Cantueso Natural Seeds has been awarded as a small company for its commitment to the bioeconomy, with the sustainable collection and provision of native plants, which helps to increase biodiversity in urban spaces, the restoration of soils in agriculture, as well as environmental and landscape restoration in public works. In this category, the initiatives of Zerya Producciones Sin Residuos, Levantina y Asociados de Minerales, Endesa and Hidrogea have obtained a second prize.
EUROPEAN FINAL
The initiatives selected by the jury in this edition of the European Business Awards for the Environment, in its Spanish section, will enter the European final, competing with the rest of the winning companies in other Member States of the European Union and candidate countries. The winners of this final will be announced on November 3 at an online award ceremony organized by the European Commission.
The European Business Awards for the Environment, of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for the Environment, have been held since 1987 in order to recognise those companies that stand out for their environmental performance.
