The Basque Country today hosted a European meeting on green budgets, during which it shared its experience of including energy and climate perspectives in government budgets, alongside representatives from the regions of Baden-Württemberg (Germany) and Lombardy (Italy). 

The event was organised as part of the European Commission's Technical Support Instrument (SG Reform), and brought together budget planning and environmental managers from the three regions, along with specialists from SDA Bocconi, the FiFo Institute and the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre.

During the session, Ihobe's technical team explained that inspiration from international models such as the French model led them to work on developing a methodology for energy and climate budgeting tailored to the specific characteristics of the Basque Country. 

The exchange provided an insight into the challenges faced by other European regions in this field. The Basque Country was particularly interested in the experience of Baden-Württemberg, which has already implemented green budgets, and in the obstacles identified by Lombardy, which could be similar to those in the Basque context.

The event included a practical demonstration of the labelling methodologies used by each region, and a discussion on the next steps in terms of moving towards public budgets that are more in line with European climate targets.