The European Commission aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2030. In this context, the Smart Specialisation Strategy (RIS3) of Galicia for the 2021-2027 period highlights the importance of sustainability, a key concept that cuts across each and every one of the planned actions. One of the three main priorities identified in this roadmap is to develop and apply the various scientific-technological and innovation solutions to make progress in the decarbonisation of value chains, generating opportunities for diversification towards sustainable, internationally competitive products that improve the well-being of people.

Decarbonisation and the ecological transition are therefore not only a challenge, but also a challenge and an opportunity for innovation for businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises.

Depending on the sector in which they work and the market they are targeting, they can design and market new products or services to ease the transition to the new production and consumption model of the circular economy. Some examples to guide this creation of products and services would be:

• Commitment to new, more natural and sustainable materials, or those which come from the circular economy.
• Design of services with a low carbon footprint.
• Efficiency solutions in the industrial value chain.
• Transition solutions in the electricity sector.
• Innovation in terms of sustainable mobility.
• Sustainable building
• Development of precision agriculture.

On the other hand, climate change is also an opportunity for innovation to act on companies' own internal processes, helping to reduce their carbon footprint and optimising time and costs.

In this area, a first step to start with is to measure pollutant gas emissions throughout the value chain and to modify the necessary procedures to reduce emissions through innovative approaches. It is also interesting to devise strategies for offsetting gas emissions (e.g. a reforestation project) or for using waste based on the principles of the circular economy.