The Secretary of State for the Environment, Federico Ramos, presided over the presentation of the 2013 Collaboration Agreements for the promotion of green entrepreneurship, within the Empleaverde Programme of the Biodiversity Foundation, co-financed by the European Social Fund.

The Secretary of State for the Environment, Federico Ramos, presided over the presentation of the 2013 Collaboration Agreements for the promotion of green entrepreneurship, within the Empleaverde Programme of the Biodiversity Foundation, co-financed by the European Social Fund.

Federico Ramos pointed out that “it is necessary to take advantage of the potential of economic sectors linked to the environment, increase the skills and environmental qualifications of young people to improve their employability and promote the creation of green companies”.

The Director of the Biodiversity Foundation, Sonia Castañeda, has pointed out that the projects developed within the framework of these agreements will contribute significantly to achieving one of the objectives of the Empleaverde Programme: to create and consolidate companies in economic sectors related to the environment.

These are 29 projects aimed at supporting entrepreneurs, initiatives that will contribute to enriching the Biodiversity Foundation’s Emprendeverde Network, a platform specialising in green business aimed at entrepreneurs and investors. The representatives of the beneficiary entities have signed the collaboration agreements of the Empleaverde Programme, co-financed by the European Social Fund and which has an endowment of 2.7 million euros.

During the event held today in Madrid, four of the beneficiary initiatives this year were presented: the project “Ajemprende en verde: Young entrepreneurs and business creation in the environmental sector”; “Green Architecture: Architecture and Sustainable Rehabilitation and Entrepreneurship”; “ATA Eco-verde, the Self-Employed and the Green and Innovation Economy” and “Green Entrepreneurship: Sustainable Future”.

These collaboration agreements signed today seek to support the self-employed, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs of SMEs and micro-SMEs, with special attention to specific groups such as young people and women. It is also a program that serves the investment sector, and the figure of business angels. They are aimed at professionals from different fields, with interesting and innovative topics such as the use of microalgae as biofuel, water purification and CO2 capture; the sustainable use of ash pastures; nanotechnology and biotechnology; investment mechanisms to create green enterprises; rehabilitation and sustainable building; organic farming; environmental consultancy, green leisure and environmental education; green enterprises in rural areas; sustainable marine tourism; or environmental simulation to apply the recommendations of the Environmental Responsibility Law, Water Law and Waste and Soil Contamination Law, among others.

The agreements are part of a call to which more than 650 proposals have been submitted, tripling the number of projects submitted compared to the previous edition. A total of 90 projects have been selected in this call (61 of them, signed last July, are part of the line of promotion of green employment, and the 29 presented today, aimed at entrepreneurship).