By Josep Ventura, PANASEF representative at FIAT-IFTA, Spain

One of PANASEF's key pillars for the coming years is to minimize the environmental impact of the funeral sector in Spain. The Spanish funeral sector has significant potential for energy savings and carbon footprint reduction, and PANASEF is committed to making it happen.

In PANASEF, we have set an ambitious goal for 2040: Zero Carbon Footprint. The first step has been raising awareness and informing funeral service companies about the importance of collective collaboration. For this reason, sustainability is a core topic at all our events, including the Fórum PANASEF, where it plays a key role in roundtable discussions and exhibitions.

We have signed a collaboration agreement with Iberdrola, one of Europe's leading electricity companies and a pioneer in renewable energy, to support and guide us on this journey toward decarbonization. One of the first initiatives we have developed is a specialized carbon footprint calculator to help each company measure its environmental impact. By providing basic consumption data, each company can assess its current carbon footprint, and Iberdrola can assist in designing a tailored roadmap toward decarbonization. The data collected through this calculator will also contribute to the annual "Radiography of the Funeral Sector" report published by PANASEF.

Additionally, as we emphasized earlier, information and awareness have become the driving forces behind achieving our objectives. PANASEF has created a dedicated sustainability and funeral sector website https://sostenibilidad.panasef.com which uses clear and accessible language to outline practical energy-saving measures for businesses, highlight available investment support programs, compile relevant national and European regulations, and showcase successful case studies. Our goal is to make sustainability more accessible to all funeral service companies.

We are also working closely with various Spanish public administrations. PANASEF is actively participating in drafting the new regulations being developed by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge to regulate emissions from cremation furnaces in Spain. As one of the European countries with the highest number of cremation facilities, Spain must take action in this area, and we are committed to driving this change. To implement these initiatives, PANASEF has joined Forética, an organization that brings together leading Spanish companies with the mission of promoting the integration of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) factors into business strategies and management.

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