Innovative environmental growth markets from a company perspective

2007

Study published by the German Federal Environment Agency and the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety

All over the world, the environmental technology sector is experiencing strong growth. Environmental technology is more and more becoming an important factor in countries’ economies. And as it does so, there is a need for environmental policy to focus increasingly on innovation and industry.

This study is an analysis of the European environmental industry. Firstly, we look at current market volumes in Europe and determine the competitive position held by Europe and, more specifically, Germany. Taking this as a basis, we forecast what growth can be expected in the environmental technology sector over the coming years. Our examination focuses on a number of "lead markets" that were identified for the parent study  . The lead markets are as follows:

• Power generation and storage
• Energy efficiency
• Material efficiency
• Sustainable mobility
• Waste management and recycling
• Sustainable water management

We then take a closer look at ten specific environmental technologies – selected in consultation with the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and the Federal Environmental Agency. Here, we present an industry perspective. To this end, some 90 leading companies were asked from over 13 European countries for their view of the market and competitive situation. We also asked them what they thought were the critical success factors in environmental innovation and the key political instruments for promoting innovation. Based on the results of this survey, we then make a series of recommendations for governments – what they should be doing to promote innovation, and what form effective environmental regulation in Europe and around the world could take.