Environmental innovation: Using qualitative models to identify indicators for policy
Minna Kanerva, Anthony Arundel & René Kemp
#2009-047
Environmental innovation is an essential part of a knowledge based
economy, as environmental innovation makes economies more efficient by
encouraging and facilitating the use of fewer material or energy inputs
per unit of output. In this respect, environmental innovation replaces
material inputs with knowledge. Environmental innovation should also
result in fewer externalities, or negative environmental impacts, which
affect our health and well-being, also in terms of global climate
change. Technology shifts caused by technological breakthroughs, rapid
changes in demand for resources, or environmental imperatives could also
impel societies to invest more heavily in research on how to use energy
and other resources more efficiently. The main goal of this paper is to
explore and identify relevant indicators for environmental innovation
that could be used to develop innovation policy for all economic
sectors, as well as for the field of environmental technologies. This is
done firstly with the help of a qualitative model presenting the
eco-innovation chain. Based on both literature and our data analysis,
our chosen key indicators include measures on: environmental regulations
and venture capital for the eco-industry; environmental publications,
patents and business R&D; eco-industry exports and FDI; sales from
environmentally beneficial innovation across sectors; and environmental
impacts related to energy intensity and resource productivity of
economies. Finding key eco-innovation indicators related to such factors
is important for policy makers, as environmental innovation policy is
required to counter the two market failures associated with
environmental pollution and the innovation and diffusion of new
technologies.
Keywords: Environmental innovation; environmental goods and services;
innovation indicators; CIS; environmental impacts; European Union
JEL codes: O14, O30, O33, O38, Q51, Q55, Q58
UNU-MERIT Working Papers
ISSN 1871-9872