Climate action drives competitiveness, innovation and business internationalisation, concludes report by Alinnea

Climate action is a driver of competitiveness, innovation and internationalisation for Spanish companies. This is one of the main conclusions of Climate Action in Spanish Companies 2024 a report by Alinnea, a think tank hosted by IE University and supported by the European Climate Foundation (ECF), which works on generating innovative solutions to climate change, presented today at IE University's Madrid campus. This study, in which 800 Spanish companies participated, including large companies and SMEs, reconfirms that climate change is a strategic priority for the Spanish business sector.

The presentation of the report took place at Driving Impact: Financial Pathways for a Clean Industrial Transformation, a conference held today at IE Tower, IE University's headquarters in Madrid. At the event, Manuel Muñiz, Provost at IE University, led a debate on competitiveness and Europe's role in the climate transition attended by leading figures from the business and institutional world such as Nadia Calviño, President of the European Investment Bank, and Enrico Letta, former Italian Prime Minister and Dean of IE School of Politics, Economics and Global Affairs at IE University.

They were joined throughout the day by senior executives such as Helena Viñes Fiestas (CNMV), Antoni Ballabriga (BBVA), Gonzalo Sáenz de Miera (Iberdrola) and Juan Carlos Delrieu (Bank of Spain), among other key representatives of the public, financial and industrial sectors, who shared their vision on how to unlock financial resources to accelerate the transition to a decarbonised economy.

"Alinnea was born with the vocation of identifying and offering solutions to accelerate climate action through dialogue with stakeholders, proposing incentives that generate benefits for the public and private sector, and for society as a whole," said Ana Sánchez, Director of Alinnea. "The report we are presenting today shows the benefits that Spanish companies perceive when implementing measures against climate change. Among the opportunities for improvement, the companies highlight that it is necessary to facilitate financing to promote decarbonization, as well as to increase knowledge to advance in the management of climate action," she added.

Miriam Zaitegui-Pérez, Director of the Spain Program at the European Climate Foundation, stated that “the Paris Agreement was made possible, among other factors, thanks to multi-stakeholder dialogue. This is the main reason why the ECF supports the creation of Alinnea — a space where key players in the ecological transition, such as the private sector, public institutions, and civil society, can engage in dialogue and propose solutions for a just transition.”

Isabela del Alcázar, Chief Purpose and Sustainability Officer at IE University, explained: "at IE University we believe that knowledge is the engine of change. Alinnea was created as a space for rigorous and collaborative dialogue where people become catalysts for action towards a prosperous, innovative and sustainable future".

Innovation and internationalization. The authors of the report confirm that climate action has a positive impact on innovation, favours the adoption of clean technologies, improves production processes and strengthens the corporate image. Some 41% see advances in their reputation and brand value; 43% report improvements in their environmental impact, and 53.3% link climate initiatives with higher levels of innovation, digitalisation or robotisation.

The link between sustainability and internationalisation is also noteworthy: companies operating in international markets (29.4%) confirm that sustainability favours their expansion processes. The study also highlights that company size is the biggest factor in the impact of climate action: large companies have more capacity for investment, adaptation and innovation, and report the greatest benefits in economic and competitive terms.

Strategic commitment to the future. Alinnea's experts note that 61.1% of the companies surveyed see climate action as an opportunity to open new lines of business. In addition, 53.8% consider that the cost of not addressing climate risks is much higher than that of acting, which confirms that sustainability is managed as a strategic commitment to the future, not as a legal or ethical imperative.

The report highlights that almost 90% of companies already implement climate initiatives, prioritising those actions with a direct impact on cost reduction, such as energy efficiency (71.5%) or the circular economy (67.5%). Along these lines, 59.9% consider that the increase in energy and raw material prices favours the development of corporate climate action.

Employment and talent. The report also looks at the impact of climate action on employment. 40.6% of companies detect the need to strengthen the training of their human teams and 23.8% confirm that they have incorporated new profiles into their workforces to promote initiatives related to sustainability. 

Impact on productivity. The Alinnea study reveals that 40% of the Spanish companies analysed perceive direct impacts on their productivity and business development, a figure that rises to 83.3% in the case of large companies. The agricultural sector stands out in particular: 75% have adopted climate change adaptation measures and more than half of the companies in the sector (54.2%) are already experiencing its effects.

Long-term vision. The companies surveyed confirm that their main motivations for acting on climate change include ethical (72.2%), reputational (64.6%) and legal (64.1%) factors. Economic reasons, although less predominant, are gaining ground: between 45% and 59% point to the relevance of climate action in terms of customers, risks and opportunities.

Among the main barriers, 59.4% of companies believe that customers do not demand sustainable products or are willing to pay more for them. In addition, 53.9% denounce the lack of attractive financing, while 54.3% call for greater regulatory simplification. Likewise, 17% consider that they do not have enough data to assess climate change as a real or future problem.

Compliance. 88.8% of the companies that participated in the Alinnea report base their climate strategy on regulatory compliance, with more reactive actions. Some 42% combine this approach with transformative strategies such as the development of sustainable products (27.6%). Companies that adopt both approaches obtain better results in innovation, internationalization and competitiveness. The implementation of transformative strategies is especially high in large companies (85.7%), as well as in the industrial (58.2%) and agricultural (57%) sectors.