Coming Clean, the Global Cleantech Innovation Index 2012 was published recently. It contains a lot of interesting information regarding countries policies and results in the Clean Technologies sector. The report investigates the global state of cleantech innovation in entrepreneurial start-up companies and reasons as to where these innovative cleantech companies will spring-up over the next decade, showing which countries are falling ahead and below the curve for cleantech innovation.
Thirty-eight countries were evaluated on 15 indicators. North America and northern Europe do emerge as the primary contributors to the development of innovative cleantech companies, though the Asia Pacific region is following closely behind.
Denmark, followed closely by its neighbours, topped the index with its unique combination of a supportive environment for innovative cleantech start-ups, evidence of those start-ups emerging as well as a strong track-record of companies commercialising their cleantech innovations and scaling them up to widespread market adoption, particularly in wind. It is interesting to see that Israel ranks second. It is a leader in its capacity to produce new innovative cleantech companies. Given its size, the country generates a large number of high potential cleantech start-ups with relatively little input to the innovative process from government or private sources. However, to date at least, Israel lacks the domestic market and local expansion capital to match this innovation with strong company and product commercialisation.
Israel and its recent EUREKA Chairmanship, as part of the network’s commitment to addressing the “Grand Challenges”, were also the force behind the EUREKA Clean-Tech Action Plan (ECTA), a campaign aimed at encouraging the generation of EUREKA projects focused on R&D cooperation in the clean-tech field.
