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Iñigo Urkullu
President of the Basque Country Government
Arantxa Tapia
Minister of Economic Develpment, Sustainability and Climate Change
Basque Government seeks to improve the environment by integrating environmental criteria in sectoral policies as a sustainable competitive value factor for our country and its organisations.
The European Green Deal is shaping up as one of the main mechanisms to achieve a more sustainable future. The Basque Government is bringing the spirit of that deal to the Basque Country in the form of the Basque Green Deal. The cornerstones of this environmental roadmap are climate ambition; affordable, safe and clean energy; circular economy; energy efficiency and sustainable construction; sustainable mobility; from farm to fork; and zero pollution.
The Basque Country is an active member of ENCORE and is involved in the governance of the network as it sits on its executive committee. The main ENCORE exchange activity is the Conference of Environment Ministers of the member regions held every two years, and at which the Basque government and Ihobe have regularly taken part.
Furthermore, ever since the Bavaria Conference, the Basque Country has sent youth representatives to Youthcore. Special mention should be made of the participation at Carinthia, Central Denmark and the latest Youthcore that was held in Gelderland.
Highlights of the ENCORE activities include the organisation of the regional conference in Vitoria-Gazteiz, along with the first ENCORE meeting on the Circular Economy that was held during the I Basque Ecodesign Meeting (BEM) in Bilbao.
The LIFE Integrated Urban Klima 2050 project is the largest climate action project in the Basque Country for the coming years. The project – involving an investment of €19.8 million and 20 partner entities – envisages 40 specific actions, divided into 5 blocks, for climate change mitigation and in the Basque territory.
This project entitled ‘Creating Resilient Communities’ seeks to improve climate resilience; 12 regions will be involved and will run pilot schemes to develop and test their own transformative adaptation plans and pathways. As part of the project, the Basque Country will share its experiences and learn from the actions of the other selected regions over five years (2023-2027).
The Basque Country is one of the regions selected to be part of the European Union Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change. The EU, as part of the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, has set up different Missions as a coordinated effort to pool the necessary resources in terms of policies and regulations, along with other activities to achieve its goals. One of them is “Adaptation to Climate Change: support European regions and communities to become climate resilient by 2030", for which the Basque Country has been selected. As part of the Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change, the Basque Country will join a community of practice on adapting to climate change, which will be an opportunity for it to network and share expertise and experience with other European regions and communities.
The Basque Ecodesign Center is a stable initiative set up in 2011 in a framework of cooperation between private sector businesses and the Basque Government. Its goal is to design and implement innovative eco-design projects to generate knowledge and subsequently transfer it to the fabric of Basque industry. Over time, the Basque Ecodesign Center has evolved from its specific focus on ecodesign to become a broader-based circular economy body.
Membership has since grown to 18 signatories to the agreement covering the period from 2021 to 2025. The 2021-2025 agreement is driving the mobilisation of Basque industry towards more sustainable systems in line with the strategy set by the European Green Deal and the Basque Green Deal. The member companies represent:
Udalsarea 2030 is the Basque network of sustainable municipalities. Its goal is to foster local sustainability and encourage coordination between the different levels of the public administration of the Basque Country: the Basque Government, public authorities, Provincial Councils, supramunicipal authorities and local councils. The latter play a particularly important role. Furthermore, its remit includes driving the sustainability action plans and policies of the network's local authorities. Those plans and policies are always aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The network fosters a model of local governance, based on the assessment and monitoring of local policies and accountability by means of fostering mainstreaming and citizen participation.
Ekoetxea, the Basque Country's Network of Environmental Centres, is managed by the Basque Government through Ihobe. Its goal is to drive ecosocial transformation by means of environmental policies - digitally and in person - in iconic settings, to engage the general public and generate value for the country.
Adolfo Uriarte
Director of Natural Heritage and Climate Change
Adolfo Uriarte is responsible for the coordination of environmental policies in relation to climate change, preparing studies, reports, plans and strategies aimed at defining the fulfillment of objectives towards a transition to a more sustainable and resilient model in the territory. He was Scientific Director and Business Director at AZTI Foundation for marine environment and food. He is member of the Basque Environmental Advisory Council of the Basque Government, of the Committee of experts of the UNESCO Chair for the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve and permanent member of the board of the Spanish Port and Coasts Engineers' Conference. At the European level he is member of the European Fisheries Technology Platform and the European Aquaculture Technological and Innovation Platform.
Marisa Oleaga
Contact
Marisa Oleaga, Focal point
Phone: +34 945 016950
Mobile: +34 607 536119
E-Mail: marisa.oleaga@ihobe.eus