Small and medium-sized enterprises find their way in the race to zero emissions through the "SME Climate Hub".
Madrid, October 14, 2021 – Today the “PYMES Climate Hub” was launched in Spain, with the support of the Spanish Climate Change Office, which participated in its presentation, and with the backing of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE), the Spanish Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises (CEPYME), the Spanish Group for Green Growth (GECV), the #PorElClima Community and leading companies such as BBVA, Iberdrola and Telefónica.
“ SMEs Climate Hub “ is a pioneering international initiative, which aims to accelerate the development of climate resilience in SMEs through a one-stop shop that provides access to practical tools and resources to mitigate their environmental impact, information on business incentives, and to be officially recognized by the United Nations as part of the Race to Zero initiative.. SMEs that join, for their part, commit to halve their greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, to reach net zero emissions by 2050 or even earlier, and to disclose their progress annually, all with the ultimate aim of avoiding the worst effects of climate change while ensuring the viability of businesses.
The launch of this initiative was attended by Valvanera Ulargui, Director of the Spanish Climate Change Office, María Mendiluce, CEO of We Mean Business Coalition and Gonzalo Muñoz, High Level Climate Action Champion of COP25.
In her speech, Valvanera Ulargui pointed out that “it is essential to promote and accompany this wave of change towards more resilient and decarbonized models, to have all the tools to bring together companies and organizations, for reasons of environmental and social responsibility, but also to avoid costs and improve profitability“. He also stressed that it is crucial to integrate and generalize climate transparency, and in this regard SMEs, the main business fabric in our country, have enormous potential as drivers of change by operating in the areas closest to consumers and for their capacity for innovation: “The launch of the PYMES Climate Hub opens a window of opportunity for Spain and its companies to lead the race towards climate neutrality,” he concluded. Ulargui.
For her part, María Mendiluce highlighted how “this initiative allows SMEs to contribute with multinational companies, banks and governments in the fight against climate change within the framework of the United Nations Race to Zero” . Emphasizing that “SMEs are an important part of the transition to a zero-emission economy. The PYMES Climate Hub wants to help with this transition“.
Lastly, Gonzalo Muñoz, recalled that “.SMEs globally represent 90% of businesses and are the lifeblood of many communities and economies and we cannot leave them behind in the race to net-zero emissions: the SME Climate Hub provides small and medium-sized enterprises with the tools they need to make climate commitments and take immediate action”.
These initial presentations were followed by a round table discussion with the participation of professionals from the following companies BBVA, Iberdrola, Telefónica and members of other organizations such as Spanish Group for Green Growth, CEOE-CEPYME and the British Embassy in Spain. The latter brought the vision of the United Kingdom, which earlier this year partnered with the SME Climate Hub to launch the “Climate for Business” campaign.Together for our Planet“, encouraging local small businesses to take climate action. Since then, more than 2,000 UK SMEs have signed up to the SME Climate Commitment, a success story that reflects the importance of government involvement.
The round table was also attended by María Cortés, CEO of Laragon, a Spanish SME that has been a member of the platform for several months: “We are pleased to announce that we have been able to participate in the platform for several months.We can all do something, we all add up and we can generate a positive impact in this battle against climate change, including SMEs. The best thing about this platform is that it is oriented to the size of our organization, that it allows us to set ambitious but realistic goals and that it provides tools and resources to achieve them,“said Cortés in his speech.
- Small and medium-sized enterprises are essential to meet the challenge of climate change: In Spain there are more than 1.3 million SMEs employing around 8.5 million people.
The science is clear: we need to halve our emissions by 2030 to reach climate neutrality in time. To this end, all companies, regardless of their sector or size, have an important role to play. It should be remembered that Spain currently has more than 1.3 million SMEs that employ 8.5 million people, according to the latest data published by the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy. The objective of launching this campaign at national level is to ensure that the initiative reaches as many companies as possible, both large and SMEs, so that the latter can rely on the platform, benefiting from the resources that will be offered free of charge, to adopt climate measures immediately. More than 2,300 companies from 80 countries are already part of the initiative and we hope that many more will now join from both Spain and Latin America. Companies and governments around the world need to commit to a zero net emissions future.
PYMES CLIMATE HUB Website https://smeclimatehub.org/
