The CEO of the energy company Cepsa, Marteen Wetselaar, becomes part of the select group of CEOs for the European Green Deal. The European Business Coalition, supported by the World Economic Forum, serves as a high-level platform for companies to scale up their work on positive climate action and demonstrate their commitment to the European Green Deal agenda.
The European Green Deal was launched in 2019 by the European Commission to drive different initiatives to achieve a competitive and climate-neutral future for Europe. This covers numerous policies related to climate, environment, energy, transport, industry, agriculture and sustainable finance.
The group meets several times throughout the year to establish political dialogue, share good practices and develop joint action initiatives. One of these meetings takes place each year at the annual summit in Davos.
Work intensification
The working group, of which only the directors of two Spanish companies are part – Wetselaar and Ignacio Sánchez Galán (Iberdrola) – meets again this Monday in Brussels to continue intensifying its work in coordination with the European Commission. Specifically, its executive vice president Maros Sefcovic will be in charge of chairing this meeting.
Currently, around 50 executives from companies in different sectors, such as energy, finance, agriculture or retail, are part of this group. To be part of this coalition, company representatives must show a high interest in the ecological transformation of Europe. Proof of this is the effort made by this group of companies to reduce their environmental impact: since 2019 this group of companies has managed to reduce their scope 1 and 2 CO2 emissions by 26%.
Need for greater public-private action
In response to the need for greater public-private action to achieve Europe’s green transformation, the World Economic Forum has been promoting this business coalition since 2019, arising from the great interest shown by the private sector to mobilize a business coalition in the form of a group. . or work of CEOs to advance in this area.
