Green innovation needs wider support, says EU agency

To help make its economies and societies more sustainable, Europe should fund green innovation in a more experimental and varied way, the EU’s environment agency has recommended.

Sustainability has risen up the political agenda in recent years, the European Environment Agency said in a report published on 10 September. But most of Europe’s support for green innovation is still directed towards technological development “rather than targeting the wider solution space”, it said.

“Innovation policy at European and national levels has traditionally focused strongly on funding technical R&D projects,” according to the agency. Such projects are important for improving the performance of green technologies such as wind turbines and solar cells, it said, but funding for more real-world demonstrations and experiments could be beneficial.