The Ihobe General Manager, Alexander Boto, yesterday took part in the ‘Moving to a green economy - challenges and opportunities’, where the panel members were representatives of the European Commissioner for Economy, the European Environment Agency, Ørsted and the European Trade Union Confederation.

The speakers outlined their organisations’ perspectives regarding the impact that a just and green transition has on society and employment, and shared some of the pointers for the social dimension to be a key factor of the planning of the transition process.

Alexander Boto stressed the Basque Country’s focus on integrating environmental, economic and social policies

Alexander Boto highlighted the Basque Country’s work to integrate the environmental, economic and social policies in the government programme, as well as in the Euskadi Next 2021-26 recovery plan, and the roadmaps of the Basque Green Deal and Euskadi Basque Country Agenda 2030.

The Ihobe General Manager stressed several of the Basque Country’s cornerstones to progress towards a green economy and a just transition, such as the strong commitment to the industrial sector and its employment fabric; the investment in a new production, management and reuse model based on the circular economy and innovation; private-public partnership through the cluster policy; the company and youth training programmes; and the co-created planning instruments from multi-level governance with a long-term strategic approach.

“In the Basque Country, we have been working on this transition for years and we know that the transformation is always a work in progress. Our policies are aimed at leaving nobody behind and moving forward together to go further. Basque companies, universities and institutions have created over 18,000 green jobs; we are driving sectors such as energy and the automotive sector towards a more sustainable model; and we are investing in the training of the new generations in innovation, eco-efficiency and smart specialisation. And this is all supported by financial mechanisms such as the Euskadi Next programme, where 60% of the funds are aimed at fostering the green transition”, explained Alexander Boto.

The Basque Country’s goals for a just transition with a positive social impact include bringing unemployment under 10%; placing the Basque Country among the 5 European countries with least social inequality (Gini Index); positioning the Basque Country among the 6 European countries with greater gender equality; consolidating the school dropout rate under 7%; and cutting greenhouse gases by 30% by 2030.