EU4Environment: Market Assessment and Policy Analysis of Eco-innovation Landscape in the Republic of Moldova

The webinar on the “Market Assessment and Policy Analysis of Eco-innovation Landscape in the Republic of Moldova” took place on 16 March 2022 within EU4Environment.

Meeting objectives were to gather relevant governmental agencies to discuss the findings of the draft eco-innovation market assessment and policy analysis, and to collect their feedback/suggestions; and inform participants about the next steps that UNEP and the ODIMM will undertake under the EU4Environment programme to assist Moldovan SMEs to develop eco-innovation business strategies/models.

The meeting gathered the following participants: Ministers of Economy, of Environment, and of Agriculture and Food Industry, representatives of governmental agencies, environmental and ecological NGOs, Delegation of the EU in RM, representatives of Implementing Partners (ODIMM, UNEP, UNIDO), Business Associations, Business incubators.

SMEs play a crucial role in the EU’s Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries’ economies, and their collective environmental footprint often exceeds that of large enterprises. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the European Union (EU) have been supporting SMEs across the globe in the development and application of “eco-innovation” – a business model that incorporates sustainability and life cycle thinking throughout all business operations and value chain partners. Eco-innovation entails a coordinated set of modifications or novel solutions to products (goods / services), processes, market approach and overall organisational structure of a company.

EU4Environment, jointly with ODIMM, will be assisting SMEs in the Republic of Moldova to develop new business strategies/models that are aligned with the eco-innovation approach.