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04 April 2023

People at the heart of PAGE work – Germán Benítez

Discover a new series of interviews featuring people that have collaborated with PAGE at a given time. The purpose is to voice experiences, opinions, and insights on how the green economy is evolving and how the green economic transformation is being implemented around the world. Meet our very first guest Germán Benítez, Coordinator of the Economic and Financial Advisory team at the Municipality of Montevideo.

 

“Toward a Green and Inclusive Economy in Uruguay: starting point, current situation, and prospects.”

Germán Benítez was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. He holds a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in Economics. From 2010 to 2016, he worked at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, where he was involved in the economic and financial monitoring of multiple environmental economy initiatives. Between 2016 and 2020, he served as Vice President of the National Development Corporation, an institution focused on the design of several public policies. In 2020, he joined Parliament as an advisor on infrastructure, transportation, and environment. Currently, he serves as Coordinator of the Economic and Financial Advisory team at the Municipality of Montevideo.

Q1. When was your first contact with the PAGE team?

I believe my first contact with the PAGE team was in 2012, even before the Partnership was officially launched. At that time, the Ministry of Economy and Finance had begun to more formally integrate into inter-ministerial working groups to comprehensively address the issues of climate change and inclusive green economy. I remember participating in several initiatives and workshops promoted both by UNEP and through collaborations between UNEP, GIZ, and the IMF, both in Uruguay and abroad. With the launch of PAGE, the contact became even greater.

 

Q2. What was the IGE perception at that time?

At that time, Uruguay was just consolidating a pattern of economic growth with improvements in the well-being of its population, following the systemic crisis that the country went through at the beginning of the 21st century. In this context, despite the efforts of some actors to bring the issue to the table, the environmental dimension was largely overlooked, partly because the severity of the situation inherited from the crisis led to the belief that perhaps the environment was not the worst problem that the country had to face, and partly due to a failure to properly perceive the risks that not giving the environmental dimension the relevance it deserved would entail.

 

Q3. How has IGE evolved in the country since then?

I believe that inclusive green economy has begun to make headway in the last 10 years. There has been significant progress in the field of energy generation (today, Uruguay can supply almost all of its energy demand from renewable sources), subsidies and exemptions have been applied to promote the acquisition of electric vehicles for public and private transportation, the use of instruments that expand exemptions for private investment projects that incorporate environmentally friendly production mechanisms has increased, among other initiatives. Moreover, policies have been implemented to drastically reduce the use of plastic bags at the household level, while subnational efforts are underway to improve the recycling and reuse of household and industrial waste.

Much progress has also been made in training and capacity building, an area in which I understand PAGE has made valuable contributions. Nowadays, the concept of inclusive green economy is much better understood by a significant number of relevant political actors, and initiatives in the field are much better conceived and executed than they were 10 years ago. There is also a focus on building high-quality systematic statistics in several areas related to inclusive green economy, which is very relevant for decision-making.

This is partly a result of the growing interest of new generations in caring for the world they live in, but also arises from the implementation of medium and long-term national policies agreed upon by the main political actors.

 

Q4. What are the challenges and opportunities for your country and why?

Naturally, the path that began a few years ago must be continued, both by designing new initiatives in already prioritized areas, and by structuring paths towards inclusive green economy in other sectors. The challenges in the short and medium term are many and varied, in the three areas covered by the inclusive green economy.

For example, it is very important to make progress in decarbonizing the economy, for example, through new investments in energy (a roadmap is currently being developed to develop the production, marketing, and use of green hydrogen in our country), by electrifying public and private motorized transport and developing sustainable non-motorized alternatives for mobility in cities, or by expanding carbon neutrality for Uruguay’s main export products.

Tourism should also be included among the priorities, encouraging (probably through certification) the development of sustainable tourism ventures, and the proliferation of single-use plastics should be greatly limited, for which there are some initiatives currently being worked on at the parliamentary level, among other challenges.

Similarly, it is very important to continue with the development of green and blue jobs, which are currently showing more dynamism than the global average but need to be expanded. Finally, continuous training of human resources, both at the public and private sector level, is essential for the economy to become increasingly green and inclusive.

 

I believe that PAGE has been instrumental in both aspects, as it has a team capable of providing ongoing training and facilitating inter-institutional coordination. Initiatives like PAGE should be maintained and expanded, as they greatly inform and guide the work of decision-makers.

Q5. How do you see your engagement?

I believe that there is currently a growing opinion in Uruguay regarding the cost and future risks of maintaining the production and consumption pattern based on the brown economy. On one hand, Uruguay is experiencing extreme weather events (mainly droughts and floods) with increasing frequency, which clearly indicates that maintaining the current pattern comes at a considerable cost. On the other hand, global importance of IGE is increasing, and Uruguay is a small country that depends on the rest of the world, so moving towards a green and inclusive pattern is beginning to be understood even as a form of survival. Finally, the pressure from several Uruguayans, who understand that things can and should be done differently, is becoming increasingly heard. Therefore, I understand that the commitment to IGE has been growing in recent years and will continue to grow in the future.

 

Q6.What is the strength of a programme like PAGE?

Those who have worked on the design and structuring of public policies may agree that, in almost all cases, having adequate coordination and communication among different agents is crucial. Additionally, working with qualified individuals who understand and are capable of implementing policies is vital to the success of any project. I believe that PAGE has been instrumental in both aspects, as it has a team capable of providing ongoing training and facilitating inter-institutional coordination. Initiatives like PAGE should be maintained and expanded, as they greatly inform and guide the work of decision-makers.

 

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