Climate change and eco-innovation. A patent data assessment of environmentally sound technologies

In recent years eco-innovation studies have placed special emphasis on environmental management in the company encouraging the introduction of a prevention philosophy rather than correction measures of environmental damage. The aim of this article is to contribute to this debate but in the environmentally sound technologies field due to their importance for mitigating climate change. Analyzing the information of the patents filed at the European Patent Office (EPO) from 1978 to 2010, the research carried out a microeconomic analysis about the technological trajectory followed by these technologies. The paper concludes that the efforts in these kinds of technologies are led by developed countries and are still mainly concentrated in corrective technologies rather than preventive ones. Furthermore there has been a shift from the promotion of renewable technologies to abatement policies but if the emissions must be stabilized it is necessary to push public policies in this direction as well as collaboration between basic research and industry as a way to adapt it to the real needs for addressing climate change.