SINGAPORE ― Studies on eco-innovation have flooded in since the 1990s, when it emerged as one of the key tools to achieve sustainable development, but progress in eco-innovation has been limited due to a lack of measurement.

This is why the Seoul-based ASEM SMEs Eco-Innovation Center, or ASEIC, whose key mission is to promote eco-innovation in Asia and Europe, invested in developing an index to measure processes in eco-innovation this year.

The ASEIC was established in June 2011 following the endorsement from the leaders of ASEM member countries at the 8th ASEM Summit in Brussels, Belgium, and is dedicated to promoting eco-innovation strategy and practices to small and medium-sized enterprises in ASEM member countries. It is currently funded by the Small and Medium Business Administration in Korea.

The ASEM Eco-Innovation Index, or ASEI, which ASEIC developed with Sustinvest, a leading socially responsible investment research and consulting institution in Korea, is the first-of-its-kind index to investigate the global state of eco-innovation beyond Europe, ASEIC officials said. 

The concept of eco-innovation is slowly being understood by Asian countries, so it is important to include Asian countries when measuring the global eco-innovation status. The concept of eco-innovation that the ASEIC adopted in the report is any form of innovation aimed at significant and demonstrable progress towards the goal of sustainable development, through reducing the impact on the environment or achieving a more efficient and responsible use of resources.

The ASEIC examined eight European and seven Asian countries on 20 generic indicators or data sources which were aggregated into four criteria: eco-innovation capacity, eco-innovation activities, eco-innovation supporting environment and eco-innovation performance. Twenty generic indicators represent a selected number of key indicators that represent central elements of the eco-innovation concept and issues.

A preliminary selection of ASEM member countries for 2012 ASEI assessment were chosen on the basis of reliable data source availability, level of GDP and the country’s environmental load, ASEIC said.

In addition to the quantitative analysis through the ASEI framework, the ASEI report includes qualitative analysis on policies, national strategies, initiatives, and business case studies that relate closely to eco-innovation.

Key findings of the ASEI report include the fact that as early starters of eco-innovation, most of the European countries sit at the top tier of the ASEI, showing high levels of eco-innovation capacity, activities, supporting environment and performance.

Secondly, the report showed that some Asian countries like South Korea, which has put eco-innovation at the heart of its national green growth strategy, show signs that they are rapidly catching up with the early starters of eco-innovation.

It is clear that the gap between eco-innovation capacity and activities exists for both European and Asian countries, though this gap remains bigger for Asian countries. Top-ranked countries in the ASEI show a smaller gap between eco-innovation capacity and eco-innovation activities.

The report also advised governments to play a central role through regulations and policies to transform eco-innovation potential to actual activities that can eventually improve environmental performance at a national level. According to the report, there is a strong correlation between an eco-innovation-supporting environment and eco-innovation activities.

In Asia, each country has its own policy mix that promotes certain eco-innovation activities. The Asian countries have their own eco-innovation focus and targets that each country promotes. Asian governments are increasing their support of eco-innovation, but most of their support remains focused on developing renewable energy and green technology.

SMEs, which dominate a large part of both the European and Asian economies, can be key drivers of eco-innovation growth. SMEs are key players in scaling up and accelerating eco-innovation, as they are flexible and quick to integrate eco-innovation concepts into their business operation, ideas and production.

In the case of European countries, companies demonstrate various types of non-technical eco-innovation via changing its operation process, marketing strategy, designs of products and production process.

In contrast, Asian firms’ eco-innovation is more technical-focused such as developing green technology solutions. This may be due to increasing emphasis on technology development amid rapid economic growth in Asia in the last decade.

By Seo Jee-yeon (jyseo@heraldcorp.com)