Green tech development an economic ‘no brainer’ for EU

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Category: Blog

Created on Monday, 28 April 2014 10:59

The EU must unleash the ‘full potential’ of Europe’s green technology entrepreneurs, by doing more to help turn their ideas into successful businesses.

Developing sustainable energy solutions brings great long-term benefits for Europe. Not only does it have positive implications for tackling climate change and safeguarding Europe’s energy future, but it is also a smart move for the economy.

However, to unleash the full potential of sustainable energy solutions, we need to do more to help green technology entrepreneurs turn their most innovative ideas into successful ventures which will drive growth and jobs across the continent.

At the European energy and environment council meetings held recently, EU environment ministers agreed that the time has come to green the European economy. Enhancing the uptake of green economy priorities across Europe will bring growth and jobs, they said, and will drive progress towards a low-carbon economy and a competitive and secure energy system.

This view is shared by European citizens. According to a recently released survey, 80 per cent of Europeans believe that fighting climate change and using energy more efficiently can boost the economy and employment.

In fact, the European commission’s own impact assessment of its 2030 proposal on energy and climate targets concludes that if member states were able to increase the share of renewable energy to 30 per cent of the EU’s energy consumption, this could create 568,000 more jobs across Europe.

The full article by Elena Bou on the Parliament magazine.