Denmark, Israel, Sweden and Finland provide the best conditions today for clean tech start-up creation, with companies in the Asian Pacific region following closely behind according to to the first Global Cleantech Innovation Index prepared by the Cleantech Group and WWF.

According to Solheim, this is partly a by-product of the Nordic consensus based model, where people are open to innovation and accept social change more easily.

In Coming Clean: The Global Cleantech Innovation Index 2012, Cleantech Group and WWF looks at where entrepreneurial cleantech companies are growing today, reasons as to where they will spring-up over the coming years, and which countries are falling above and below the curve for fostering cleantech innovation.

Thirty-eight countries were evaluated on 15 indicators related to the creation and commercialisation of cleantech start-ups, generating an index measuring each one’s potential, relative to their economic size, to produce entrepreneurial cleantech start-up companies and commercialise clean technology innovations over the next 10 years.

The four top scoring countries were Denmark, Israel, Sweden and Finland. These countries all have small economies and while they are the source of much innovation, they have less ability to scale-up companies. These small countries need innovative approaches and collaboration to compensate for the lack of large domestic markets and inconsistent availability of finance throughout a company’s life-cycle. According to Norway's Environment Minister Erik Solheim, the Nordic lead in innovation in the cleantech sector is partly a by-product of the Nordic consensus based model, where people are open to innovation and accept social change more easily.

More information: HERE

Source: WWF and Nordic Council