EU Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevi?ius Endorses Green Pact for the Portuguese Footwear Cluster
Abstract: On the 24th of February, the European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries will chair the ceremony that will publicly launch the Green Pact for the Portuguese footwear and leather goods cluster
The Portuguese Shoes Green Pact, promoted by the Portuguese Footwear, Components, Leather Goods Manufacturers' Association (APICCAPS) and the Portuguese Footwear Technological Centre (CTCP), aims to mobilize companies in the footwear cluster to commit and work towards the goals set by the United Nations and Europe, namely, achieving net-zero carbon emissions in 2050 and halving carbon emissions in 2030.
The first public act will then take place on the 24th of February, at 9:30 am, at Palácio de Cristal, in Porto, in a ceremony chaired by the European Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius.
“Being a very broad and technical subject, it is paramount to mobilize the cooperation between companies, customers, and entities, so all companies in the cluster were invited to take on the Green Pact of the Footwear Cluster”, says the President of APICCAPS, Luís Onofre. “The entire footwear cluster was invited and called upon to contribute to the environmental sustainability of the planet, developing and innovating in products and processes, increasing its overall efficiency and circularity, thus being inclusive and competitive”.
Aware of its responsibilities before society, the footwear cluster has been following the increasing importance placed on sustainability. After launching in 2019 the Action Plan for Sustainability, between 2021 and 2022 saw the BioShoes4All project, whose aim is to leverage the transition to a bio-sustainable and circular economy, be approved for financing by the RRP and, in December 2023, introduced the Strategic Plan of the Footwear Cluster 2030, in which the concern with sustainability underlies all the proposals presented.
This initiative is in line with the ambition of the Portuguese cluster of footwear and leather goods of becoming an “international benchmark and strengthening its exports, combining virtuously sophistication and creativity with productive efficiency, based on the technological development and management of the international value chain, thus ensuring the future of a national production basis, sustainable, and highly competitive”.
Source:WORLDFOOTWEAR
https://www.worldfootwear.com/news/eu-commissioner-virginijus-sinkevicius-endorses-green-pact-for-the-portuguese-footwear-cluster/8570.html