SMEs as drivers of green growth: Turning challenges into opportunities with standards

SBS Annual Conference 2021
Start/End date
Event type
Country
Belgium
City
Brussels
Scope
Key Area

Aspiring to become the world’s first climate-neutral continent, the European Commission launched the European Green Deal setting out an ambitious environment policy agenda for the coming years.

SMEs make up 99% of all businesses in the EU and thus they are an essential partner of the EU to steer our economy towards a circular model. SMEs are increasingly aware of the benefits of circular business models and clean production which have shown to bring significant cost reductions.

Nevertheless, several enabling factors and conditions are necessary to speed up the transition and further foster SMEs’ green innovation and growth. Standards have an important role to play by supporting the practical implementation of these objectives. They can provide test and assessment methods and metrics on different aspects such as durability, reparability or energy efficiency. Standards can also help to promote more sustainable products and services and open markets for new products and technologies.

This conference will focus on the opportunities and challenges of the circular economy for SMEs and show how standards support the green transition. It will explore possible gaps and barriers of the current standardisation and legislative system. The conference will also highlight the role of data and digital technologies to show how the green transformation goes hand in hand with the digital one ("twin transition").

The conference will be held online on 26 May 2021 from 13.30 to 16.15 (CET) and will gather representatives from the European institutions, SME associations and SMEs, standardisation organisations.

Register and stay up-to-date on the latest news about the conference.