Press Release

GGGI develops analysis framework to strengthen Green Growth Innovation

SEOUL – March 30, 2015 – UGraphnderstanding innovation systems is critical to developing environmental policy that fosters green growth innovation, according to a new report published by the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI).
Emphasizing the importance of innovation for sustained economic growth in both advanced and developing countries, A Guide to Innovation Systems Analysis for Green Growth examines how innovation occurs and how policymakers can enable and accelerate it within a green growth context.

“Innovation is acknowledged as a necessary element of continuous socio-economic growth, and developing countries have taken important preliminary steps to build-up innovation capacity”, said Yvo de Boer, Director-General, GGGI. “The challenge now is to support countries that desire a green growth development model to unlock sustainable growth through green growth innovation”.

According to the report, however, developing countries are largely unprepared to practice and benefit from green growth innovation. Further, there exists a dearth of analytical resources specifically addressing green growth innovation.

The report, therefore, aims to bridge this gap by providing green growth practitioners with an analytical framework to assess innovation systems and develop useful policy insights that will drive innovation towards a green growth trajectory.

“Building on the knowledge already developed through the study of innovation systems, this report delivers a detailed method of analysis that takes into account market-failure related environmental externalities and the need to examine policies that are critical to green growth innovation”, said Myung Kyoong Lee, Director of Knowledge Services, GGGI.

The analytical method presented in the report includes guidelines designed to facilitate analysis based on conditions unique to particular innovation systems.

The report’s approach proceeds through three key steps: identifying the level at which the innovation system will be analyzed (i.e. national, regional, sectoral, or technological); mapping the innovation system to understand the actors, roles, interactions and possible barriers that impact an innovation system; and describing the activities and dynamics of the innovation system in terms of key functions.

By applying this innovation systems analysis, the report notes that green growth practitioners will be able to diagnose the functioning of an innovation system and develop recommendations for mechanisms that will improve those functions and, in turn, strengthen green growth innovation.

Read the report.