The relationship between R&D expenditures and environmental performance in EU countries

Investment in research and development (R&D) can play a key role in improving the environmental performance of EU countries. R&D contributes to a more efficient use of natural resources, which reduces negative environmental impacts. Investment in R&D often leads to innovations that can have a positive impact on sustainable development and on addressing environmental challenges, thereby improving environmental performance. The aim of this paper is to assess the correlation between R&D expenditure and improvements in countries' environmental performance. The paper focuses on EU countries. The analysis also focuses on the structure of R&D expenditure. The study uses changes over a ten-year period. The analysis found that over the period under review, the link between the size of R&D expenditure and environmental performance as measured by the EPI is very low. Significant differences were found between the countries with an initially high EPI (Nordic countries) and the post-communist EU countries.