This publication is intended for businesses, especially Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). It aims to demonstrate the compelling business case for eco-innovation and how it can enable companies to carve out commercially interesting opportunities. Eco-innovation is the development and application of a business model, shaped by a new business strategy, which incorporates sustainability throughout all business operations based on life cycle thinking and in cooperation with partners across the value chain.
It presents examples that demonstrate the considerable business benefits for companies that adopt eco-innovation, including increased market access, value creation, increased operational resilience, and business growth. As a result of eco-innovation, companies are developing new solutions and products (both goods and services) which can perform above industry standards.
The issue of resilience is especially critical for SMEs hit hard by COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a huge risk factor for businesses and has raised the question if eco-innovation or similar sustainable business strategies can make businesses more resilient in the face of external shocks such as COVID-19. The pandemic is an extreme example of the external shocks that SMEs face regularly. On average, shutdowns lasting a month or more occur nearly every four years in supply chains for a variety of reasons: environmental crises (such as flooding and hurricanes), strikes, cyberattacks, and financial crises.
This publication is an update of the 2014 Business Case for Eco-innovation.