The SEE BRIDGE consortium (101127499) has officially met for the first time in Istanbul on 14th and 15th November 2023, Turkey, to set the initial activities’ guidelines and begin a journey of cooperation and further decarbonization envisaged by the European Green Deal agenda.
The project, crafted to enhance the capacity of SE SMEs and entrepreneurs in energy-intensive sectors to promote green initiatives, will represent a milestone of transnational and cross-sectoral cooperation to meet Carbon Border Adjustment requirements and align with the EU Green Deal goals.
Furthermore, as the risks of carbon leakages grow higher in many countries surrounding Europe, SEE BRIDGE is seen as a cornerstone to promote fair competition as well as cooperation among industries, traditionally a quite competitive sector.
The aim of the meeting in Istanbul, hosted by the Istanbul Mineral and Metals Exporters’ Association with the attendance of CEIPES, FEUGA, QI Arrow, Ernact, OOZ Kamnik and F6S, mainly focused on familiarizing with the topic and organise the following project’s objectives:
- Developing legal and financial guidelines to support Social SMEs for the successful implementation of the Carbon Adjustment Border Mechanism;
- Deliver customized trainings to support SMEs and boost their capacity to adapt to the green and digital transitions;
- Select and directly finance, through cascade fundings, their innovation capacity to generate positive impact and draw lessons for future actions;
- Finally, fostering cross-national cooperation among like-minded entities that form the European economic tissue.
The project’s ambitions, reflected in the two-day meeting’s discussions, were followed by a careful planning of tasks coming over the next few months, where the consortium will start mapping the implication of the CBAM legislation for SMEs as well as European and International funds they could access, all in line with a view of a carbon-free planet for all!