Industrial Innovation for Competitiveness

The European Climate Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of Industrial Innovation for Competitiveness (i24c), a new initiative aimed at strengthening Europe’s industrial leadership in the new world economy, and headed by Dr Martin Porter, Executive Director i24c and a member of the ECF Executive Management Team.

As the global economy decarbonises rapidly and is transformed by technological, social and ecological mega-trends, Europe needs to adopt a more systemic and innovation-focused industrial policy to reap the benefits of this transition.

i24c will bring together economic policy-makers, new and established industrial entrepreneurs, cities and academic institutions with the aim of creating a new European industrial compact, a joint vision for a competitive European industry as well as the evidence-base and innovation pathways to achieve the transition to the new economy.

Johannes Meier, CEO of the European Climate Foundation, stresses that “only through a systemic approach to innovation in its industry will Europe be able to reap the benefits from the transition to a low-carbon economy. i24c’s work will help end the sterile debate between competitiveness and climate action which has been preventing real progress in transforming Europe’s industrial base and prosperity”.

The work of i24c will be guided by a High Level Group of respected policy-makers and industrialists such as former European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, former Director-General of the World Trade Organisation Pascal Lamy, Gary McGann, CEO of Smurfit-Kappa, Beata Stelmach, CEO Poland and the Baltics, GE and Mikko Kosonen, CEO of Sitra.