The Eco-Innovation Observatory (EIO) has published the 2011 edition of its annual report on eco-innovation within the European Union. The EIO defines eco-innovation as an innovation that reduces the use of natural resources and reduces the release of harmful substances during the entire life-cycle.
In a period marked by an increasingly pronounced scarcity of natural resources, eco-innovation is an opportunity to reduce consumption of natural resources and to increase productivity and hence competitiveness. Eco-innovation makes it possible to "dematerialise" the economy through increased business efficiency (cost reduction) and the development of new products and services.
To measure eco-innovation at the level of entire economies, i.e. at country level, allows us to identify the strengths and weaknesses and compare the performance of national systems in place. To this end the EIO has established an "Eco-Innovation Scoreboard" which reflects the broad outlines of particular inputs, e.g. R & D, and outputs, e.g. patents, in eco-innovation . Based on the indicators in the dashboard, the EIO also calculates a composite index to compare the overall performance of countries in terms of eco-innovation.
Finland, Sweden and Denmark occupy the top three in the 2011 edition of the EIO dashboard. Luxembourg ranks in 4th position among the 27 EU Member States.
http://www.odc.public.lu/actualites/2012/04/Eco-Innovation_Scoreboard_2011/index.html (in French)