Drivers of environmental innovation - Vinnova

Since then laws as well as the environmental problems have changed. In most
countries legislation has become stricter and more comprehensive.
Environmental problems are nowadays often diffuse and their scope and effects
are often controversial. Problems like global warming, ozone depletion and
cross-border water pollution are seldom spotted directly, and represent risks
that must be prevented. The consequences of this change are important:
whereas in the past the identification of polluters, of the Best Available
Technology and of costs was quite easy, the innovation process is nowadays
more complex (Aggeri, 1999).
The response of firms to environmental problems has evolved accordingly.
Four historic stages in the development of cleaner technologies can be
discerned:
1) first energy shock – early 1970s
Environmental innovations primarily motivated by energy savings.
2) mid 1970s – mid 1980s
Environmental policy developed by Government. Industry responded
passively and adopted end-of-pipe technologies.
3) second half of the 1980s
Firms adopted a defensive medium-term approach. Innovations usually timed
with systems renovation.
4) end 1980s – present
Environmental objectives included in corporate strategy and innovations are
also aimed at acquiring competitive advantage.
New technologies must be integrated into the broader technical, economic and
social systems. This requires not only a complex innovation process but also
new skills, new organisational structures and new regulations. The earliest
cleaner technologies developed were add-on or end-of-pipe technologies, which
were relatively easy to develop and employ within existing technological
systems (Malaman, 1996).
Today, a larger share of environmental innovations than was hitherto the case
are product rather than process innovations. The level of development of
innovations was classified in the Italian study on a scale from R&D 4 via
prototype and first application to maturity. Product innovations were generally
at a lower level of development than process innovations, and it is likely that
the proportion of product innovations will further increase (Malaman, 1996).
Some support for the development as presented by Malaman comes from a
WBSCD 5 study. Almost 90 per cent of the firms in the study agreed that
4 Research and development
5 World Business Council for Sustainable Development
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