Abstract
The development and implementation of eco-innovation are critical components in addressing climate change and advancing sustainable development in Europe. This article examines the integration of eco-innovation within the European Union's policy framework, emphasising its significance in achieving sustainable development goals. Employing the applied research methodology, trends in eco-innovation have been identified, and the analysis has been enriched with case studies of successful practices in selected EU member states. The results indicate substantial differences in the level of eco-innovation implementation, identifying both leading countries and those lagging in adoption. The discussion focuses on the implications of these findings for future research and policy formulation, emphasising the urgent need to integrate eco-innovation into national and regional climate transformation strategies. Such integration is crucial not only for achieving climate neutrality by 2050 but also for maintaining Europe's position as a leader in clean technologies amidst economic and geopolitical challenges. Therefore, eco-innovation is a foundation for building a sustainable and resilient industrial future for Europe. The study underscores the dual role of political support and inclusive collaboration among stakeholders, positioning eco-innovation as a strategic priority in the pursuit of sustainable development and enhancing global resilience.
References
Albitar, K., Nasrallah, N., Hussainey, K., & Wang, Y. (2024). Eco-innovation and corporate waste management: The moderating role of ESG performance. Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, 63, 781–805. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11156-024-01281-5
Andabaka, A., Basarac Sertić, M., & Harc, M. (2019). Eco-innovation and economic growth in the European Union. Zagreb International Review of Economics & Business, 22(2), 43-54. https://sciendo.com/pl/article/10.2478/zireb-2019-0019
Arundel, A. V., & Kemp, R. (2009). Measuring eco-innovation. UNU-MERIT Working Papers. https://unu-merit.nl/publications/wppdf/2009/wp2009-017.pdf
Bahn-Walkowiak, B., Magrini, C., Berg, H., Gözet, B., O'Brien, M., Arjomandi, T., ... & Bleischwitz, R. (2021). Eco-innovation and digitalization: case studies, environmental and policy lessons from EU member states for the EU green deal and the circular economy. https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10139533/
Beltrán-Esteve, M., & Picazo-Tadeo, A. J. (2017). Assessing environmental performance in the European Union: Eco-innovation versus catching-up. Energy Policy, 104, 240-252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2017.01.054
Bossle, M. B., De Barcellos, M. D., Vieira, L. M., & Sauvée, L. (2016). The drivers for adoption of eco-innovation. Journal of Cleaner Production, 113, 861-872. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.11.033
Caglar, A. E., Avci, S. B., Ahmed, Z., & Gökçe, N. (2024). Assessing the role of green investments and green innovation in ecological sustainability: From a climate action perspective on European countries. Science of the Total Environment, 928, 172527. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172527
Cano-Marin, E. (2024). The transformative potential of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in business: a text mining analysis on innovation data sources. ESIC Market, 55(2), e333-e333, https://doi.org/10.7200/esicm.55.333
Carrillo-Hermosilla, J., Del Río, P., & Könnölä, T. (2010). Diversity of eco-innovations: Reflections from selected case studies. Journal of Cleaner Production, 18(10-11), 1073-1083. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2010.02.014
Castagneto Gissey, G., Dodds, P. E., & Radcliffe, J. (2018). Market and regulatory barriers to electrical energy storage innovation. Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 82, 781–790. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.RSER.2017.09.079
Cegarra-Navarro, J. G., Papa, A., Garcia-Perez, A., & Fiano, F. (2019). An open-minded strategy towards eco-innovation: A key to sustainable growth in a global enterprise. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 148, 119727. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2019.119727
Colombo, L. A., Pansera, M., & Owen, R. (2019). The discourse of eco-innovation in the European Union: An analysis of the Eco-Innovation Action Plan and Horizon 2020. Journal of Cleaner Production, 214, 653-665. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.12.150
Dabbous, A., Barakat, K. A., & Tarhini, A. (2024). Digitalization, crowdfunding, eco-innovation and financial development for sustainability transitions and sustainable competitiveness: Insights from complexity theory. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 9(1), 100460, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2023.100460
Derlukiewicz, N., Szałata, Ł., & Mańkowska, D. (2023). Scaling Up Innovation-Exemplary Initiatives for Sustainable Development in European Smart Cities with a Focus on Smart Mobility. European Journal of Sustainable Development, 12(3), 229. https://doi.org/10.14207/ejsd.2023.v12n3p229
Díaz-García, C., González-Moreno, Á., & Sáez-Martínez, F. J. (2015). Eco-innovation: insights from a literature review. Innovation, 17(1), 6-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/14479338.2015.1011060
Domaracká, L., Seňová, A., & Kowal, D. (2023). Evaluation of eco-innovation and green economy in EU countries. Energies, 16(2), 962. https://doi.org/10.3390/en16020962
Durán-Romero, G., López, A. M., Beliaeva, T., Ferasso, M., Garonne, C., & Jones, P. (2020). Bridging the gap between circular economy and climate change mitigation policies through eco-innovations and Quintuple Helix Model. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 160, 120246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120246
Dziura, B., Vovk, M., & Raneta, L. (2020). Eco-Innovation in Europe: Circular Economy and Sustainable Development. In U. Akkucuk (Ed.), Handbook of Research on Creating Sustainable Value in the Global Economy (pp. 1-20). IGI Global Scientific Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-1196-1.ch001
Eco-innovation scoreboard. (2024, November 23). Eco-Innovation at the heart of European policies: https://green-business.ec.europa.eu/eco-innovation_en
EIO. (2024, December 21) Eco-innovation observatory https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data-providers-and-partners/eco-innovation-observatory
Ekins, P. (2010). Eco-innovation for environmental sustainability: concepts, progress and policies. International Economics and Economic Policy, 7, 267-290. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10368-010-0162-z
Evans, S., Vladimirova, D., Holgado, M., Van Fossen, K., Yang, M., Silva, E. A., & Barlow, C. Y. (2017). Business model innovation for sustainability: Towards a unified perspective for creation of sustainable business models. Business Strategy and the Environment, 26(5), 597-608. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.1939
Ferradás-González, A., Pérez-Rico, C., & Ada-Lameiras, A. (2024). Transforming sorted and performance of waste recovery companies: Circular Economy, Sustainability Technology and SDGs. Sustainable Technology and Entrepreneurship, 100082. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stae.2024.100082
Fussler, C. & James, P. (1996). Driving Eco-Innovation: A Breakthrough Discipline for Innovation and Sustainability, Pitman Publishing: London, 364.
Gente, V., & Pattanaro, G. (2019). The place of eco-innovation in the current sustainability debate. Waste Management, 88, 96-101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2019.03.026
Gilli, M., Calcaterra, M., Emmerling, J., & Granella, F. (2024). Climate change impacts on the within-country income distributions. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 127, 103012. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2024.103012
Grassano, N., Hernandez Guevara, H., Fako, P., Tuebke, A., Amoroso, S., Georgakaki, A., ... & Panzica, R. (2021). The 2021 EU industrial R&D investment scoreboard. EUR. https://iri.jrc.ec.europa.eu/scoreboard/2021-eu-industrial-rd-investment-scoreboard
Guimarães, C., Santos, J. D., & Almeida, F. (2024). Practical tools for measuring and monitoring sustainable innovation. Innovation and Green Development, 3(4), 100172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.igd.2024.100172
Hajdukiewicz, A., & Pera, B. (2023). Eco-innovation in the European Union: Challenges for catching-up economies. Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 11(1), 145-164. https://doi.org/10.15678/EBER.2023.110108
Hojnik, J., Ruzzier, M., Ruzzier, M. K., Sučić, B., Soltwisch, B., & Rus, M. (2024). Review of EU projects with a focus on environmental quality: innovation, eco-innovation, and circular-economy elements. International Journal of Innovation Studies, 8(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijis.2023.10.001
Janahi, N. A., Durugbo, C. M., & Al-Jayyousi, O. R. (2021). Eco-innovation strategy in manufacturing: A systematic review. Cleaner Engineering and Technology, 5, 100343. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/link_gateway/2021CEngT...500343J/doi:10.1016/j.clet.2021.100343
Jesic, J., Okanovic, A., & Panic, A. A. (2021). Net zero 2050 as an EU priroty: modeling a system for efficient investments in eco innovation for climate change mitigation. Energy, Sustainability and Society, 11, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-708456/v1
Karmaker, C. L., Aziz, R. A., Palit, T., & Bari, A. B. M. M. (2023). Analyzing supply chain risk factors in the small and medium enterprises under fuzzy environment: Implications towards sustainability for emerging economies. Sustainable Technology and Entrepreneurship, 2(1), 100032, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stae.2022.100032
Kemp, R. (2011). Ten themes for eco-innovation policies in Europe. SAPIENS. Surveys and Perspectives Integrating Environment and Society, 4(2). https://journals.openedition.org/sapiens/1169
Koval, V., Borodina, O., Lomachynska, I., Olczak, P., Mumladze, A., & Matuszewska, D. (2022). Model analysis of eco-innovation for national decarbonisation transition in integrated European energy system. Energies, 15(9), 3306. https://doi.org/10.3390/en15093306
López Pérez, G., García Sánchez, I. M., & Zafra Gómez, J. L. (2024). A systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis of eco‐innovation on financial performance: Identifying barriers and drivers. Business Strategy and the Environment, 33(2), 1321-1340. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bse.3550
Machiba, T. (2013). Understanding eco-innovation for enabling a green industry transformation. In Strategies for Sustainable Technologies and Innovations. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Meng, F., Tian, Y., Han, C., Band, S. S., Arya, V., & Alhalabi, M. (2023). Study on Value Symbiosis and Niche Evolution of the Corporate Venture Capital Ecological Community for Innovation and Knowledge. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 8(3), 100363, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2023.100363
Mohamedaly, A., Al-Ajlani, H., Kuuliala, V., McKinnon, D., & Johansen, M. (2022). Eco-innovation for circular industrial transformation. A Report on the Best Practices, Drivers, and Challenges in Key Sectors. https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/indicators/eco-innovation-index-8th-eap
Naruetharadhol, P., ConwayLenihan, A., & McGuirk, H. (2024). Assessing the role of public policy in fostering global eco-innovation. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 10(2), 100294. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joitmc.2024.100294
Oduro, S. (2024). Eco-innovation and SMEs’ sustainable performance: a meta-analysis. European Journal of Innovation Management, 27(9), 248-279. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJIM-11-2023-0961
Pichlak, M., & Szromek, A. R. (2021). Eco-innovation, sustainability, and business model innovation by open innovation dynamics. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 7(2), 149. https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc7020149
Qu, Z., Yang, W., Allison, A., & Blackett, P. (2024). Economic indicator system for adaptive monitoring of compound climate change risks. Societal Impacts, 4, 100073. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socimp.2024.100073
Rennings, K. (2000). Redefining innovation—eco-innovation research and the contribution from ecological economics. Ecological economics, 32(2), 319-332. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0921-8009(99)00112-3
Sarkar, A. N. (2013). Promoting eco-innovations to leverage sustainable development of eco-industry and green growth. European Journal of Sustainable Development, 2(1), 171-224. https://doi.org/10.14207/ejsd.2013.v2n1p171
Shkarupeta, E., & Babkin, A. (2024). Eco-innovative development of industrial ecosystems based on the quintuple helix. International Journal of Innovation Studies, 8(3), 273-286. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijis.2024.04.002
Şipoş, G. L., & Ionescu, A. (2024). Sustainable development through eco-innovation. Empirical evidence from the EU-27 member states. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 25(4), 809–827. https://doi.org/10.3846/jbem.2024.22037
Smol, M., Kulczycka, J., & Avdiushchenko, A. (2017). Circular economy indicators in relation to eco-innovation in European regions. Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 19, 669-678. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10098-016-1323-8
Szilagyi, A., Mocan, M., Verniquet, A., Churican, A., & Rochat, D. (2018). Eco-innovation, a business approach towards sustainable processes, products and services. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 238, 475-484. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2018.04.026
Tagliabue, L. C., Re Cecconi, F., Maltese, S., Rinaldi, S., Camillo Ciribini, A. L., & Flammini A. (2021). Leveraging Digital Twin for Sustainability Assessment of an Educational Building, Sustainability, 13(2), 480. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020480
Terzić, L. (2024). Eco-Innovation as a Key Driver for Sustainable Growth and Development: The Case of European Union Countries. Socio-Economic Anasyses, 16(1), 17-30. https://doi.org/10.54664/VJWM1275
Teshome, M. (2024). The human health burden of climate change: Non-economic losses and ethical considerations towards achieving planetary health. The Journal of Climate Change and Health, 19, 100336. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667278224000397?via%3Dihub
Tomashuk, I., & Baldynyuk, V. (2023). Eco-innovation as a basis for sustainable development. Three Seas Economic Journal, 4(1), 71-87. https://doi.org/10.30525/2661-5150/2023-1-9
Ullah, F., Jiang, P., & Elamer, A. A. (2024). Revolutionizing green business: The power of academic directors in accelerating eco‐innovation and sustainable transformation in China. Business Strategy and the Environment. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3738
Worakittikul, W., Srisathan, W. A., Rattanpon, K., Kulkaew, A., Groves, J., Pontun, P., & Naruetharadhol, P. (2025). Cultivating sustainability: Harnessing open innovation and circular economy practices for eco-innovation in agricultural SMEs. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 11(1), 100494. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joitmc.2025.100494
Wu, L., Wang, L., Philipsen, N. J., & Fang, X. (2024). The impact of eco-innovation on environmental performance in different regional settings: new evidence from Chinese cities. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 27, 9211–9232. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10668-023-04280-z
Zhu, J., Lin, N., Zhu, H., & Liu, X. (2023). Role of sharing economy in energy transition and sustainable economic development in China. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 8(2), 100314, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2023.100314

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2026 Economics and Environment
