Making 'greener' connections: An introduction to the Special Issue

摘要

The last 40 years have seen environmental issues rise sharply in both national and international agendas. What began as a concern about the deleterious effects of industrial activities on the natural environment (Parto, 2007) has grown as the effects of climate change have become apparent. This has resulted in concern not merely for environmental performance improvements but to promote a broader sustainable development agenda (Pinkse and Kolk, 2012; Griggs et al., 2013). It is now increasingly recognized that innovation policies have a positive contribution to make to improving environmental outcomes (OECD, 2009; Demirel and Kesi-dou, 2011; Blundel et al., 2012). This is reflected in the academic literature where a body of research into environmental innovations has emerged and is now growing rapidly, spread across a variety of disciplines.