The Millennium Eco-Index – Regional Eco-Innovation Potential

The Małopolska Region is the most eco-innovative region in Poland. Next to the Pomeranian and Masovian Voivodeships, it was ranked highest in the recently published Bank Millennium report. For the first time, the authors have included a new area, which is the circular economy.

The Millennium Eco-Index – Regional Eco-Innovation Potential evaluates 16 Polish Voivodeships in terms of their eco-innovation potential and supports the discussion on green transformation of the Polish economy. This is Bank Millennium's original project, which is being developed in cooperation with substantive partners.

- The report we are presenting to you is the result of many months of work by our bank's economists, experts in the field of sustainable development, representatives of the academic community and state administration. I would like to thank our partners - the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland, the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow and the Warsaw School of Economics for their active participation in our joint project and for popularising it - said Joao Bras Jorge, Chairman of the Management Board of Bank Millennium.

Bank Millennium presented the latest edition of the report on Thursday, 18 October 2024 during the European Forum for New Ideas in Sopot. The leader of eco-innovation is the Małopolskie Voivodeship, and the podium is also occupied by the Pomeranian and Masovian Voivodeships. The authors updated the methodology by adding a circular economy area to the report. Therefore, last year's results presented in the report have been recalculated according to the new methodology.

- The modifications to the index structure introduced this year have resulted in a slight change in the position of some regions, although the group of leaders remains unchanged. However, the analysis of the Millennium Eco-index should not focus on the position of individual regions. In my opinion, the great value of our publication is the identification of the strengths and weaknesses of regions, which can be an inspiration and motivation to concentrate resources on areas that require special attention - said Grzegorz Maliszewski, chief economist at Bank Millennium and author of the Millennium Eco-Index report.

Michał Gołacki from the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland, , commenting on the results of this year's edition of Eko-index, admitted that at the national level the position of individual Voivodeships in relation to each other has not changed significantly. - However, this is an apparent impression. By analysing individual variables, we can actually see what processes, often dynamic, take place in our economy at the level of Voivodeships. An example is the variable called Innovative Enterprises that have introduced innovations in the form of new or improved products, or the variable developed by the Patent Office, among others, Patents granted for eco-innovations. It is in showing hidden trends and processes that the greatest strength and potential of the Millennium Eco-index lies - he concluded.

In this year's edition of the report, the authors modified the definitions of some variables, among others they took into account greenhouse gas emissions, and not only CO2 emissions in particularly onerous plants, or updated the definition of patents for eco-innovations. For the first time, they also included a new area (sub-index), which is the circular economy.

- Over the past 50 years, resource consumption has tripled and continues to grow at a rate of 2.3% per year. High-income countries use six times more materials per capita than low-income countries and are responsible for ten times the climate impact per capita. In Poland, the material intensity index of the economy is still one of the highest in Europe. For this reason, effective and eco-innovative resource management is an important element of economic policy, which is reflected, among others, in the greening of enterprises module in the European Funds for Modern Economy (FENG) programme, concerning the transformation of enterprises towards sustainable development and circular economy. Therefore, the Millennium Eco-Index developed this year could not lack such an approach - explained Joanna Kulczycka, PhD, DSc, AGH Professor from the Faculty of Management of the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow.

Poland has a lot to do in terms of the green transformation of the economy. The low position of our country in terms of innovation (23rd place in the European Union in the European Innovation Ranking in 2024) and innovations that benefit the natural environment (penultimate, 26th place in the EU in the 2022 eco-innovation ranking) means that the European Commission includes Poland in the group of countries catching up in the field of eco-innovation.

A survey commissioned by Bank Millennium for the purposes of the Eco-index shows that Poles are ready for the green transformation. 63% of the surveyed Poles believe that without innovations supporting environmental protection, climate change cannot be reversed. As many as 76% indicate that this issue should be accelerated and Poland needs more such innovations.

- Eco-innovations can become a way for Poland to rush forward, enabling the creation of new business models and overcoming investment barriers. They offer the opportunity to improve energy efficiency, reduce costs and increase competitiveness on the international stage. Poland must use this potential not only to meet current challenges, but also to stay ahead of other economies, building a sustainable and modern economic future - noted Mariusz-Jan Radło, PhD, Professor at the Warsaw School of Economics, Head of the Department of Global Economic Interdependencies at the Warsaw School of Economics.

The Millennium Eco-index - Eco-innovation Potential report is an original project of Bank Millennium, which is based on data from Statistics Poland, the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland and the National Centre for Emissions Management (KOBiZE). It is based on the analysis of 21 variables from 5 areas (sub-indexes): expenditure on eco-innovation, effects of eco-innovation, socio-economic activity in the area of eco-innovation, resource efficiency and circular economy. The last of the sub-indices appeared in the study for the first time.

The "Ecological attitudes of Poles" survey was carried out in August 2024 by the SW Research research agency for Bank Millennium on a representative sample of 1000 people using the CAWI method.

CHECK THE REPORTlink otwiera się w nowym oknie

More information on: www.bankmillennium.pl/o-banku/centrum-prasowe/eko-indeks-millenniumlink otwiera się w nowym oknie