5.4. Enabling the transition towards a green economy and society through eco-innovation

The Union cannot prosper in a world of ever increasing resource consumption, environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. Decoupling growth from the use of natural resources requires structural changes in how such resources are used, re-used and managed, while safeguarding our environment. Eco-innovations will enable us to reduce pressure on the environment, increase resource efficiency, and put the Union on the path to a resource- and energy-efficient economy. Eco-innovation also creates major opportunities for growth and jobs, and increases European competitiveness within the global market, which is estimated to grow to a trillion Euro market after 2015 European Parliament, Policy Department, Economic and Scientific Policy "Eco-innovation - putting the EU on the path to a resource and energy efficient economy; Study and briefing notes", March 2009. . 45 % of companies have already introduced some type of eco-innovation. It has been estimated that around 4 % of eco-innovations led to more than a 40 % reduction of material use per unit of output Eco-innovation Observatory "The Eco-Innovation Challenge - Pathways to a resource-efficient Europe - Annual Report 2010", May 2011. , highlighting the great future potential. However, it is not uncommon that highly promising and technically advanced eco-innovative technologies, processes, services and products do not reach the market due to pre-commercialisation challenges and do not realise their full environmental and economic potential as their scaling up and market introduction are perceived as too risky by private investors. The aim of this activity is therefore to foster all forms of eco-innovation that enable the transition to a green economy. To achieve this, research and innovation will focus on the following: All forms of eco-innovation, both incremental and radical, combining technological, organisational, societal, behavioural, business and policy innovation, and strengthening the participation of civil society, will be supported. This will underpin a more circular economy, while reducing environmental impacts, increasing environmental resilience and taking account of rebound effects on the environment and potentially on other sectors. This will include user-driven innovation, business models, industrial symbiosis, product service systems, product design, full life cycle and cradle-to-cradle approaches as well as exploring ways to reduce the quantities of raw materials in production and consumption, and overcoming barriers in this context. The potential to move to more sustainable patterns of consumption will be addressed. The aim will be to improve resource efficiency by reducing, in absolute terms, inputs, waste and the release of harmful substances (e.g. those indicated under Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency, amending Directive 1999/45/EC and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 793/93 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 as well as Council Directive 76/769/EEC and Commission Directives 91/155/EEC, 93/67/EEC, 93/105/EC and 2000/21/EC (OJ L 396, 30.12.2006, p. 1). along the value chain and to foster re-use, recycling and resource substitution. Emphasis will be given to facilitate the transition from research to market, involving industry and notably start-ups and innovative SMEs, civil society organisations and end-users, from the development of prototypes and demonstration of technical, social and environmental performance, up to the first application and market replication of eco-innovative techniques, products, services or practices of Union relevance. Actions will contribute to removing barriers to the development and wide application of eco-innovation, creating or enlarging markets for the solutions concerned and improving the competitiveness of Union enterprises, especially SMEs, on world markets. Networking among eco-innovators will also seek to enhance the dissemination and exploitation of knowledge and link supply with demand better. Structural and institutional changes are needed to enable the transition towards a green economy and society. Research and innovation will address the main barriers to societal and market change and will aim to empower consumers, business leaders and policy makers to adopt innovative and sustainable behaviour, with contributions from social sciences and humanities. Robust and transparent tools, methods and models to assess and enable the main economic, societal, cultural and institutional changes needed to achieve a paradigm shift towards a green economy and society will be developed. Research will explore how to promote sustainable lifestyles and consumption patterns, encompassing socio-economic research, behavioural science, user engagement and public acceptance of innovation, as well as activities to improve communication and public awareness. Full use will be made of demonstration actions. It is necessary to develop robust indicators at all appropriate spatial scales that are complementary to GDP, methods and systems to support and assess the transition towards a green economy and the effectiveness of relevant policy options. Driven by a life-cycle approach, research and innovation will improve the quality and availability of data, measurement methods and systems relevant to resource efficiency and eco-innovation and facilitate the development of innovative offset schemes. Socio-economic research will provide a better understanding of the root causes of producer and consumer behaviour and thus contribute to the design of more effective policy instruments to facilitate the transition to a resource-efficient and climate change resilient economy. Moreover, technology assessment methodologies and integrated modelling will be developed to support resource efficiency and eco-innovation policies at all levels, while increasing policy coherence and resolving trade-offs. The results will enable the monitoring, assessment and reduction in material and energy flows involved in production and consumption, and will enable policy-makers and businesses to integrate environmental costs and externalities into their actions and decisions. Innovations in information and communication technologies can constitute a key tool to support resource efficiency. To achieve this objective, modern and innovative ICT will contribute to significant efficiency gains in productivity, notably through automated processes, real time monitoring and decision support systems. The use of ICT will aim to accelerate a progressive dematerialisation of the economy, by increasing the shift towards digital services, and to facilitate changes of consumption behaviours and business models through the use of the ICT of the future.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-04 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.