Spain supports sustainable growth and employment in Latin America

AL INVEST Verde is a cooperation programme funded by the European Union aimed at Latin America. Over the next four years, work will be done to promote sustainable growth and job creation by supporting the transition to a low-carbon, more circular and resource-efficient economy.   

The FIIAPP, together with the Italian agency IILA, manages one of the three components of the project. Specifically, work will be done on promoting policies for the effective application of basic environmental and labour standards. To this end, a sustainable commercial and economic policy and regulatory frameworks will be promoted, consistent with the commitments adopted and negotiated in the Free Trade Agreements with the European Union.  

Component 1, managed by the German agency Sequa is tasked with mobilising the technical know-how and investment of the EU in support of the creation of alliances with the private sector in Latin America. The third component, focused on intellectual property, is managed by the European Intellectual Property Office.  

The first phase of the programme is already well under way, where work is being carried out to complete the team, to present the programme to target countries and to identify initial demands. At the head of the programme, Emilio Calvo, a career civil servant from the State Secretariat for Commerce, where he served as advisor for America for the last 4 and a half years, has joined as director.  

Despite its recent launch, the first action of the programme has already been undertaken. A two-day seminar on the sustainability and traceability of value chains in the beef and leather sector was organised in Brazil. The event was organised together with IPAM (Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazonia) and included representatives of civil society, the Brazilian government and the European Commission.