In light of the global energy crisis, it is suggested by the European Commission that “the clean energy transition is the best insurance against price shocks in the future, and needs to be accelerated”
Rising global energy prices have been occupying the news recently. It is linked to the post-pandemic recovery and expected to last throughout the winter. While it is a concern for citizens and all kinds of institutions, SMEs and energy-depended businesses are impacted the most.
Following that, the European Commission has recently issued a Communication on Energy Prices, in which it presents various measures for the EU and its member states for tackling the energy crisis. State aid to the most vulnerable businesses, temporary tax reduction, support for access to renewable energy are among the immediate measures suggested. It is also emphasized that “the clean energy transition is the best insurance against price shocks in the future, and needs to be accelerated”, and there are mid-term measures suggested in this context. These include boosting investments in renewables, improving capacity for clean energy storage, as well as empowering consumers and supporting their choices towards cleaner energy sources [Read More].
Transition to clean energy is among the issues that we have also been discussing in the framework of our project, GT4SME, particularly in the context of Internationalization and Sustainability topics. Although SMEs don’t have the biggest share in energy consumption, they make up 99% of the European economy and have a big potential to contribute to the decarbonization goals. Especially with EU Taxonomy coming into force, SMEs will need to switch -at least partially- to clean energy consumption / production, either for their own sustainability compliance or for being able to do business with bigger businesses in (international) supply chains.