COMMIT

The industrial transition to a low carbon economy presents major challenges for regions developing or transforming their SME base to low-carbon activities while avoiding ‘carbon leakage’ (i.e. preventing firms from avoiding emissions rules), ensuring ‘good jobs’ and not worsening territorial inequalities. As major industries decarbonise, SMEs in supply chains come under pressure to adapt their processes to retain business. However, many SMEs, especially micro-enterprises, have limited resources and lack access to information, finance, technology and skills.

The potential for providing effective and efficient SME support to exploit the potential of low carbon activities varies widely across European regions, depending on SME profiles, development paths, and the capacity of public and private sectors. Effective support needs to incorporate a bottom-up approach through partnerships and collaborative working, particularly with SMEs themselves. All these findings are confirmed by several recent reports of the EC, the EIB, ESPON and the OECD. Policymakers must be better equipped to support greening of entrepreneurship and SMEs, recognising the diversity of SMEs and entrepreneurs, and the role of subnational governments.

The overall objective of the COMMIT project is thus to support local and regional authorities in developing an SME support ecosystem for the industrial transition. COMMIT will focus on four inter-related areas where the mechanisms for SME access need to be improved: information/knowledge, innovation/technology, finance, and skills. Through the identification, analysis and dissemination of good practices, the project will support the development of place-based strategies, instruments, facilities and governance arrangements that they can deliver an integrated and coherent support for low-carbon entrepreneurship and SME development, while giving particular attention to microenterprises and entrepreneurship among underrepresented groups.