The ecological transformation continues to be one of the more than achievable levers of economic recovery and growth. And, in this area, Spain plays a leading role.
According to the report entitled ‘A Green COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience Plan for Europe’, drawn up by the consultancy firm EY, commissioned and financed by the European Climate Foundation, our country is third ranked in the European Union in the number of investment projects that may contribute in the short term to job creation and in complying with the EU’s climate targets, which may be boosted by the Next Generation EU recovery funds.
Among the 1,000 major projects in the sectors of energy, construction, transport, industry and land contained in the report on the 27 Member States for analysis, Spain, with 79 projects, is behind only Italy (95) and France, which holds the leading position with 149 projects. Our country is followed in investment opportunities in these five areas by Germany (73), Sweden (70) and the Netherlands (65). The study underlines that the four largest economies in the EU – France, Germany, Spain and Italy – have a significant weighting in the distribution of projects in all the sectors analysed, given that these are countries with mature industries.
In general terms, these 1,000 projects that are almost ready amount to an aggregate public-private investment of 200 billion euros distributed among the 27 Member States, which would contribute to the creation of 28 million jobs. This equates to approximately 25% of the jobs shed due to the economic consequences of Covid-19 in Europe. As pointed out by the study, each million euros invested in projects will contribute to the creation of 15 jobs, a higher ratio than that of industry based on fossil fuels.
As well as the economic benefits, the report calculates that these projects could help avoid the emission of 2.3 GtCO2e (2.3 billion tonnes) of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. These figures, should they be maintained, will result in achieving climate neutrality in 2050.
It should be taken into account, as stated in the EY report, that these 1,000 projects make up just 10% of all the major initiatives planned in Europe. According to the study, the total volume of all the projects under way in the European Union would amount to 1 trillion euros, which could create some 12 million jobs.
Energy and transport, Spain’s strong areas
Among the five sectors analysed in the study, Spain is particularly strong in the area of energy – where it is the second leading country in terms of the number of projects, with 8% of the total, behind only France, with 13% – and in transport, where it has the same number of investment opportunities as France, with which it shares first position, with 13% of all the projects in this field.
Spain holds sixth position in the EU in the number of projects both in the field of construction and in the field of land use, while it holds ninth position in the industrial sector.
Among the Spanish examples highlighted by the report is the solar plant installed in Caceres by Iberdrola, the installations to charge electric vehicles also implemented by Iberdrola, the construction of the new headquarters of Inditex with the highest standards of energy efficiency, and the green infrastructures planned by the City Council of Madrid, Ferrovial and the Technology University of Madrid in the capital.
In drawing up the report, EY employed online surveys, data bases and consultations with some 170 stakeholders (governments, public organisations, investors, project developers, start-ups and industrial companies), which helped identify more than 2,000 projects, of which 1,000 were analysed with sufficient potential to create social, economic and environmental value over the next two years.