According to Yonhap News,

Korea ranks 13th among 25 nations… U.K. top performer

(SEOUL = Yonhap News) The recent ASEM Eco-Innovation Index (ASEI), which measures the eco-innovation level and status of major countries in Europe and Asia, ranked Korea among the top Asian countries.

Commissioned by the ASEM SMEs Eco-Innovation Center (ASEIC), Sustinvest, a sustainable growth management research institution, conducted research and analysis on 25 nations in Europe and Asia and found that Korea scored the highest along with China and Japan among 12 Asian countries.

To measure the ASEI, the ASEIC considers a total of 20 indicators, including awareness of eco-innovation, level of support for eco-innovation and commercialization of relevant technologies and patents.

Korea scored 40 out of 100 in the assessment, ranking 2nd among Asian countries after China. Details about the ranking and score were not officially publicized.

However, the country was ranked 13th among the entire group of 25 nations.

In general, Asian countries appeared to fall behind in the level of development of eco-innovation.

“Asian countries like Korea and Japan still fall behind in the scale of investment and infrastructure on green technology,” according to the research institution.

Among the 25 nations, the United Kingdom recorded the highest score, with 80.

Other European countries including Sweden, France and Denmark also achieved high scores in the assessment.

Eight countries – Australia, India, Malaysia and Vietnam in Asia and Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria and Poland in Europe – are predicted to have great growth potential in eco-innovation.

“Countries in Asia and Europe began to consider eco-innovation as a critical factor of the sustainable growth strategy,” said Ryu Youngjae, CEO of Sustinvest, who also called for constant and constructive research in the area of eco-innovation.

The ASEI, which was measured for the second time this year, aims to promote eco-innovation to its members to encourage sustainable development in nations.