The Europe 2027 working breakfasts organized by the Fundación Universitat Jaume I-Empresa (FUE-UJI) have hosted today, Wednesday, November 18, a session dedicated to the European Green Deal, in a mixed face-to-face-online format, during which it was presented to the assistants the Interuniversity Chair of New Green Transition. The rector of the UJI, Eva Alcón, opened the session together with the executive president of the FUE-UJI, Carlos Cabrera. Alcón has said that the European Union aims to make Europe “more sustainable, efficient and resilient”, and with this objective many public and private resources will be mobilized over the next few years.
Cabrera has affirmed that the objective of the green pact is to achieve a clean economy, with zero emissions, and the European leadership of climate action throughout the planet, for the well-being of the entire population. “The agreement aims to change the economy, providing economic resources that allow a just transition,” said Cabrera. Likewise, he stated that the objective of the aid budget – around 1,000 million euros – is to obtain “clear and perceptible results in the short and medium term”.
In her turn, Eva Camacho, director of the New Green Transition Chair at UJI, highlighted its interuniversity nature and its perspective “of social justice and gender equality.” Camacho recalled the lines of work of each of the teams of the Chair at the 5 Valencian public universities and explained that in the case of the UJI the focus is on green transition policies from the sociological and behavioral point of view: “we need to improve our understanding of factors that influence the behavior of economic actors”. Likewise, Camacho has insisted on the need for the Chair to be a “decisive” point of union between the universities and the management of public policies in the field of ecological transition in the Valencian Community.
Next, Lydia González, from the Center for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI) and Spanish representative in the H2020 Committee, has put the European Green Deal in context within the framework of community policies and explained the details of the EU Green Deal Call. , “targeting demonstration projects and innovative products, governance innovations for the green and digital transition, and social and value chain innovations.” With an approximate budget of 1,000 million euros, the closing date of the call is next January 26, 2021.
Finally, Juan Viesca, director of European Funds of the European Foundation for Innovation (FINNOVA), highlighted that the Recovery Plan for Europe, approved last May by the European Commission, represents an increase in the community budget of 68% , “comparable to the Marshall Plan.” The new Next Generation EU instrument will have 1.8 million euros in the coming years to help member states recover, relaunch the economy and support private investment and learn from the experience of the crisis.
A dialogue with the attendees brought the meeting to its end.