Abstract
The duty to find innovative solutions to protect and improve the status of the Earth’s climate and ecosystems applies to different fields of science, economy, society, and law. Considering the current climate and ecological crisis, eco-innovation is an emerging legal principle in the European Union that is fundamental for ecological transition and key to reaching a sustainable development path. The focus of this chapter is to understand the origins of the arising obligation to eco-innovate and to demonstrate its relevance in the Anthropocene epoch and in the context of the European Union. The role of law as a lever for eco-innovation will be scrutinized by distinguishing between eco-innovation law (the laws that frame the process of innovation) and legal eco-innovation (the process of innovation in the legal system itself). In the European Union, there is institutional and financial support for both types of innovation through innovation action plans, programmes, and strategies. Like any other innovation, legal eco-innovation can be incremental or radical, contributing to slower or faster transformations. The processes, degrees, and outcomes of legal eco-innovation will be described and analysed.
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Aragão, A. (2023). Duty of Legal Eco-innovation for Sustainability. In: Leal Filho, W., Dinis, M.A.P., Moggi, S., Price, E., Hope, A. (eds) SDGs in the European Region . Implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals – Regional Perspectives. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17461-2_96
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