We talk about ecological transition and economy with our guest, Florence Jasmin, general delegate of the PEXE network, association of eco-businesses in France, with 40 regional networks which represent 6,000 environment and energy SMEs.
franceinfo: Florence Jasmin, you work to promote and develop this sector, first a short definition, what is an eco-business?
Florence Jasmine: The official definition of eco-business dates from 1990. At the time, there was little talk about climate change. So we can say today that an eco-business is a company that produces goods and services, which make it possible to reduce the impact on the environment, to preserve natural resources and then to mitigate climate change and adapt to it. So, these are all the companies that offer solutions for the ecological transition and to respond to the challenges of all these actors, the territories, the industrialists, the large groups, who want to make their ecological transition.
Which sectors are we talking about?
So there are a lot of them. All the subjects of air quality, renewable energies, biogas, hydrogen, geothermal energy, energy efficiency, soil pollution, water management, which we talked about a lot this summer, how to limit water stress, and biodiversity. This is the whole business panorama that we will find within eco-businesses.
Today was the sixth edition of the Ecotech Énergie meeting, focused this year on critical materials, eco innovation, eco design, recycling and reuse. What is the objective of such a day?
It’s about bringing together everyone who can advance innovative solutions.
“The Ecotech meetings were created ten years ago, with the support of the Ministry of the Economy, to bring together research laboratories, notably the Carnot institutes, and businesses.”
Florence Jasmineat franceinfo
On a day like this, we try to unite, to bring together all these actors who are not used to seeing each other. There are really lots of projects that come out of it, connections. And then we also organize meetings, there have been more than 150 meetings organized with a high satisfaction rate. So it’s about finding innovative solutions to develop or become aware of all these material issues, to make this energy transition. If we don’t have the minerals, for example, we won’t be able to do it.
For example, a company comes to you and says they need to find financing, what do you do?
So often, we already direct it towards our networks since they are the ones who are in direct contact with companies. And what we do is that we work on the five levers of development of a company which are financing, international, commercial development, innovation and the subject of jobs and skills. Then we try to create a link, to provide useful and concrete information. We know the needs of these companies which are often small companies, often with 20 employees, they are often innovative, they have difficulty recruiting.
“We seek to help eco-businesses in their daily lives, by providing them with advice and events to facilitate their development.”
Florence Jasmineat franceinfo
Do you also work with communities?
Quite. Communities, large groups who are looking for solutions to make this ecological, energy, circular transition. So regularly, they come to our events, or we also tell them to consult the national directory of eco-businesses, which we launched not long ago, which allows them to already find more than 500 companies in France. who can meet their needs.
Are there any desires for ecological transition that you sense among investors and communities?
Clearly, mainly for three years.
“Since the recovery plan, we have been called upon from all sides.”
Florence Jasmineat franceinfo
We worked on ecological transition issues for ports and airports. We have a partnership with Paris 2024, the Minister responsible for Sports, and we are working to bring the world of sport closer to these eco-businesses. We are delighted to see all these sports federations come to our events, such as the French Golf Federation on the subject of water, or other players in the world of sport on the subjects of energy sobriety. A big subject like swimming pools in winter is a subject on which our companies can provide solutions.
For example, another example of federation, we were talking about golf.
There is also ASO which is in charge of the Tour de France, who came to our events to talk about the subjects of substitutes for plastic, water bottles for example, or goodies. It is on all these subjects, all these reflections, on which we try to provide solutions, to make this know-how known.
Besides, what profile do the companies you support have? Are they young shoots or well-established talents?
IThere’s everything. Environmental and energy professions are historic professions. In the water, in the waste, we have been working there for hundreds of years. But we see that of the innovative companies, a little more than a third are start-ups. Often, more than 70% want to recruit and more than 60% of them have a turnover of at least 20 million euros. So, these are small companies that often don’t have the time. We must help them.
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