Invention and Transfer of Environmental Technologies

Inducing environmental innovation is a significant challenge to policy-makers.
Efforts to design public policies that address these issues are motivated by
the fact that innovations can allow for improved environmental quality at
lower cost. However, the relationship between environmental policy and
technological innovation remains an area in which empirical evidence is scant.
Increased attention should be paid to the design characteristics of public
policies that are likely to affect the ‘type’ of innovation induced. The work
presented in this book is brought together in five substantive chapters:
environmental policy design characteristics and their role in inducing
innovation, the role of public policies (including multilateral agreements) in
encouraging transfer of environmental technologies, followed by three
‘sectoral’ studies of innovation in alternative fuel vehicles, solid waste
management and recycling, and green (sustainable) chemistry. While particular
focus has been placed on the role of environmental policy in bringing about
the innovation documented, it is recognised that other factors play a key role
in inducing innovation which has positive environmental implications.