The Minister of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, Isabel García Tejerina, stressed today that “green jobs are among the fastest growing in the European economy” and are “an opportunity to improve Europe’s competitiveness in the world, guarantee the well-being of future generations and support sustainable and quality employment”.
This was pointed out during the presentation of the results of projects of the Empleaverde Programme, an initiative of the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, co-financed by the European Social Fund, which has promoted the improvement of employment, companies and the environment, through sustainable businesses, which are “key to creating better jobs and more competitive companies”.
García Tejerina recalled that during this legislature the Program has been reinforced with new projects and new actions within the framework of the Red emprendeverde project. Thus, during these years, thanks to the Empleaverde Programme, 189 projects have been developed with which nearly 900,000 people have been reached, in addition to helping more than 1,800 companies to create and grow.
Likewise, the Programme has trained more than 42,000 people and has involved more than 350 entities, in addition to developing more than 2,800 actions such as training courses, conferences, advice or publications, among others. In addition, the projects of this green initiative have allowed the creation of more than 2,400 direct jobs.
After providing these figures, the Minister of Agriculture, Food and the Environment recalled that the Empleaverde Program “has worked to improve the employment and entrepreneurship situation in our country, with a line of support for entrepreneurs and a specific call aimed at people under 30 years of age”.
EMPLEAVERDE PROGRAM
The empleaverde programme promotes green employment, increases environmental skills and encourages modernisation and eco-innovation. It also seeks to adapt economic activities to environmental regulations, promote their sustainability and promote the creation of green companies.
During the event, results of some of the companies that are part of this Program were presented. Among them, the Intermunicipal Association of Agroecological Reserve Territories – Red Terrae, which has developed the “EcoKm0 Terrae” project, focused on promoting the circular economy, and the closure of local organic cycles (LOC) as a differentiating factor or the Spanish Fisheries Confederation (CEPESCA), whose “SOSPESCA” project has advocated the application of good practices that reduce the environmental impact of fishing activity on marine ecosystems.
On the other hand, the Fernando González Bernáldez environmental foundation has developed the project “Ecological agricultural practices and sustainable tourism in protected areas: we all win” with which it aims to expose the existing socio-economic development potentialities in protected areas, as well as to promote the existing socio-economic development potentialities in the Natura 2000 Network areas of Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha with the project “Contribution of socio-economic development practices in protected areas”. sustainable agricultural to the management of the Natura 2000 Network”.
In its beginnings, it set itself the goal of supporting more than 50,000 people and promoting the creation of some 1,000 companies in economic sectors linked to the environment and its objectives have been widely exceeded.
The Biodiversity Foundation carries out its activity as an Intermediate Body of the European Social Fund (ESF) through its own projects such as the Emprendeverde Network and through collaboration agreements with different entities through the different editions of the Empleaverde Programme.
AN EMPRENDEVERDE NETWORK WITH MORE THAN 7,200 MEMBERS
Another of the projects derived from the Empleaverde Programme, such as the Red emprendeverde, the first Spanish platform specialising in green business aimed at entrepreneurs and investors. This initiative is an opportunity for entrepreneurs and investors who can discover new niches where they can maximize their investment.
In the last four years, the number of members of the Network has increased by more than 280%, from 1,883 to nearly 7,300 members, of which more than 100 are investors. In addition, the Empleaverde Programme and the Emprendeverde Network have been the subject of numerous recognitions, including that of the European Union.
Specifically, in 2014 the Emprendeverde Network was the protagonist of the European Commission’s “Working for you” communication campaign, which aims to disseminate its actions in support of citizens. It has also been selected as a finalist project in two important European Awards, EPSA Awards (European Public Sector Awards of the European Institute For Public Administration) and European Business Promotion Awards of the European Commission, the decision of which will be known this autumn.
