Innovation – doing things differently – will be crucial in achieving the UK’s goal of net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 and meeting its wider environmental objectives. There is no shortage of innovation in economies today, but what is needed to resolve today’s environmental issues is not any old innovation, it is green innovation.
Innovation is driven by a variety of different motives. Although profit is an important motive in the private sector, long-term sustainability, reputation, and attractiveness to employees are some of the other reasons businesses introduce green innovations. In the public sector the reasons for promoting innovation are even broader, with governments providing support for innovation for general reasons of increasing social welfare, as well as supporting the economy and making businesses more competitive.
This report discusses:
- Why green innovation is essential, the enormous economic as well as environmental opportunities that it represents, and how it might be achieved;
- The UK's green innovation performance to date and opportunities for the future;
- Key challenges in five priority sectors (resources and waste, construction, water, food, transport of goods), along with six areas in which government needs to act to accelerate green innovation towards net zero; and
- Recommendations for policy makers and businesses.