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Strategy and policy
Reform Support

Strengthening Portugal’s policy frameworks to stimulate the greening of SMEs and green entrepreneurship

Supporting reforms to transition to a green economy and fight climate change

Funding Programme
Year
  • 2023

Strengthening Portugal’s policy frameworks to stimulate the greening of SMEs and green entrepreneurship and to support start-ups & scale-ups in industrial ecosystems through incubation & acceleration

The Commission aims to support the green transition of Portuguese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly in the manufacturing and construction sectors, while fostering the growth of green start-ups. To achieve this, it will enhance the evidence base for policymaking, such as by providing new estimates of electricity and natural gas consumption among domestic SMEs, enabling better monitoring of business energy use. Additionally, the project will address workforce skill gaps by promoting digital and green skills, ensuring that businesses are better equipped to navigate the transition towards a more sustainable and competitive economy.

Context

Portugal is striving to accelerate its green transition by promoting sustainable business practices, enhancing energy efficiency, and fostering innovation. However, SMEs in key industrial sectors face challenges in adapting to this shift, including a lack of specialized support and resources. At the same time, incubators and accelerators, which play a crucial role in scaling up green start-ups, encounter obstacles such as limited funding, insufficient infrastructure, regulatory barriers, and weak coordination. 

Addressing these challenges requires a strategic approach that includes improving policy design, strengthening incubator networks, and equipping the workforce with the necessary digital and green skills. This project responds to these needs by generating data-driven insights, identifying best practices, and proposing policy recommendations to foster a greener and more resilient business ecosystem in Portugal.

Support Delivered

The TSI has supported Portuguese authorities through two main workstreams. The first two outputs (Kick-off meeting and Inception Report) were common to both workstreams, providing a shared foundation for the project.

Workstream A focuses on the green transition of Portuguese SMEs, particularly in the manufacturing and construction sectors. It aims to improve energy monitoring, foster green start-ups, and address workforce skill gaps in digital and green areas. To achieve this, the project has delivered:

  • Output 3: Report on a series of policy and statistical measurement workshops on greening SMEs and green entrepreneurship
  • Output 4: Methodology to estimate the environmental footprint of SMEs
  • Output 5: Report on the current policies and state of the environmental performance and greening efforts of Portuguese SMEs, along with policy recommendations to accelerate the green transition and boost green entrepreneurship
  • Output 6: Draft Action Plan to strengthen Portugal’s policy framework for SME greening and green entrepreneurship

Workstream B aims to strengthen Portugal’s incubators and accelerators. The project assesses these ecosystems, shares international best practices, and proposes policy reforms to better support start-ups and scale-ups in their transition towards a cleaner, more digital, and resilient economy. The delivered outputs include:

  • Output 7: Report on the appropriateness of the incubation and acceleration system to the needs of start-ups and scale-ups in Portugal, including international good practices and policy recommendations
  • Output 8: Report on capacity-building activities for policymakers and industrial ecosystem stakeholders on incubator and accelerator system development
  • Output 9: Draft Action Plan to strengthen Portugal’s incubator and accelerator system

Additionally, Output 10 (Project Summary Report) provided a final overview of the project’s findings and policy recommendations, consolidating the results of both workstreams.

Results achieved

The project has strengthened Portugal’s administrative capacity to support the green and digital transformation of its industrial sector. It has provided the Portugal’s authorities with evidence-based analysis and recommendations on how to improve policy design and implementation with better tools to monitor the environmental performance of SMEs and assess the effectiveness of sustainability policies. Additionally, it has helped identify skills gaps, particularly in green and digital areas, and promoted strategies to enhance workforce reskilling and upskilling.

The project will serve as a foundation for the development of a more robust national framework to stimulate SME greening and foster the growth of green start-ups.

In parallel, the project has offered concrete suggestions for improvements in Portugal’s incubator and accelerator system, providing policy recommendations and best practices to enhance their effectiveness. 

It is expected that, if these recommendations are implemented, these project outputs will contribute in the future to increased alignment of incubator and accelerator support with the needs of start-ups and scale-ups, particularly in industrial ecosystems, and strengthened cooperation and coordination between government authorities, fostering broader initiatives to enhance support for incubators and accelerators, contributing to a more inclusive and resilient entrepreneurial landscape in Portugal.