The Government of Spain; the Canarian Executive; the Cabildos of Gran Canaria and Tenerife; the Town Councils of Telde, Agüimes, Candelaria and Arafo, and the Port Authority of Santa Cruz de Tenerife have today signed a protocol for collaboration with the private sector for the energy transition of the industrial spaces of the Archipelago.
The legal instrument, open to the future adherence of other public and private sector entities in the Canary Islands, has been signed by the Singular Energy Community Sevi GoroEco (El Goro, Gran Canaria), the Association of Owners and Entrepreneurs of the Industrial Estate of Valle de Güímar (Tenerife), and the Arinaga Industrial Estate Conservation Entity (Gran Canaria).
Specifically, the protocol has been signed by the Government delegate in the Canary Islands, Anselmo Pestana; the Minister of Ecological Transition, Fight against Climate Change and Territorial Planning of the Government of the Canary Islands, Jose Antonio Valbuena; the president of the Insular Energy Council and the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Anthony Moralesand the counselor of the Area of Employment, Socioeconomic Development and Foreign Action of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Carmen Baso.
In addition to the mayors of Telde, Carmen Rosa Hernández; de Agüimes, Óscar Hernández; from Candelaria, Concepción Brito; and Arafo, Juan Ramón Martín, as well as the head of the Department of Operations and Business Development of the Port Authority of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Pablo Nieto.
On behalf of the industrial estates of Gran Canaria and Tenerife, which adhere to this initiative, the president of the Board of Directors of the Sevi GoroEco Singular Energy Community, Lourdes Pérez; the president of the Association of Owners and Entrepreneurs of the Güímar Valley Industrial Estate, Raquel Malo, and the president of the Arinaga Industrial Estate Conservation Entity, Juan Acosta.
Public-private collaboration towards sustainable development
This initiative aims to advance towards an effective transition towards a climate-neutral, sustainable, circular and efficient economy and society in the use of resources, in compliance with the objectives set by the 2030 Agenda for United Nationsas is the commitment of the signatory Public Administrations.
The protocol sets the collaboration framework to develop an alliance between the industrial sectors of the Canary Islandsorganized through industrial estates, with the participation of the Public Administrations, to address the decarbonization goals, recirculation of waste transformed into resources and renaturalization of industrial spaces, also with a view to improving the efficiency and productivity of the Canary Islands economy. “With today’s signature we materialize the expression of a commitment, both from the public and private sectors in the Canary Islands, with the development of a more sustainable future for our society, much more respectful of the privileged natural environment in which we live”, he stated. the government delegate.
“This commitment is not only going to mean development in terms of guaranteeing and improving environmental conservation, but it is also going to continue paving the way for the Canary Islands towards a diversified production model, with a longer journey, in which we can integrate our industrial sector with the resources we have. A future, the one we project today hand in hand with three industrial estates, in which we improve efficiency and productivity. With a protocol to which we hope that in a short space of time other local entities and other productive sectors of our Archipelago can join, ”he added.
Pestana also cited the specific plan for the Islands, presented by the central and regional government in February, in accordance with the objectives established in the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan and the Integrated National Plan for Energy and Climate 2021-2030, as well as citing the European Next Generation funds which, he said, will allow the mobilization of a volume of investment for the Canary Islands of almost 467 million euros in sustainable energy, in addition to the programs planned in general for the country as a whole.
For his part, the Minister of Ecological Transition, Fight against Climate Change and Territorial Planning of the Government of the Canary Islands highlighted the importance of this agreement to advance the objectives set by the regional Executive. “We need the impulse of the whole society, of all the administrations and of the Canarian industry, which has already demonstrated its involvement with the ecological transition with projects such as those of the energy communities, and that I am sure that with this agreement that we sign today , will also be an example for other sectors, helping to achieve the decarbonization goal that the Canary Islands have set for the year 2040”, Valbuena stressed.
The actions promoted by the signed protocol will be aimed at addressing energy efficiency in distribution networks and in buildings; the production of photovoltaic, wind or other renewable sources in industrial facilities and their surroundings; the separation and reuse of solid, liquid and gaseous waste as resources, and the sustainable mobility of companies and their workers to improve mobility between the islands.
The project is committed to the development of new sources and lines of research, development, innovation and competitiveness to optimize the energy potential of industries and their productive potential, as well as renaturalization, creating new green areas that regulate the temperature of spaces, improve the landscape of the polygon and its impact on the island, in addition to generating carbon sinks to achieve climate neutrality for all activities.
