Eco-Innovations for Sustainable Development

Abstract

The adoption of 17 Sustainable Development Goals, as part of the UNDP's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, has once again recognized sustainability as one of the foundations of economic development. As it recognized the importance of the private sector in the implementation of sustainable development, the UN has invited the business sector to get more involved. Innovations in economy have a strong potential to lead us toward sustainable production and consumption, circular economy and low-carbon development. Solutions are needed at both operative and practical levels because, otherwise, all visions, strategies and strategic documents remain nothing but words on paper.
In this review article, our goal is to outline the terminological and theoretical framework for the analysis of eco-innovations as a concept and review its development and advantages by relying on scientific, regulatory and practical sources. Scientific and professional literature argues for the importance and advantages of eco-innovations as the basis for sustainable development. However, while this concept is very much present in European and international strategic documents, there is a noticeable lack of eco-innovation strategies in Croatian public policies. This lack of strategic orientation toward eco-innovations, which act as a kind of a lever for sustainable development, results in the lack of interest of the Croatian business sector in the implementation of sustainable practices. This has significant environmental as well as negative economic consequences for the Croatian business sector, particularly for its competitiveness and long-term viability.