News and events published on the Eco-innovation Community Platform

• New forum topic - "Managing biodiversity & the EMAS land-use indicator”
• News - "European Commission calls on innovators to join a High Level Group to advise on a new European Innovation Council”

The European Investment Bank's (EIB) InnovFin Advisory service received requests from the European Commission's Research and Innovation Directorate General (DG R&I) and from the government of Luxembourg to study issues related to risk financing for circular economy projects. The result was a report, published in late 2015, which made recommendations about the role of financing in the transition to a circular economy. Shiva Dustdar, Head of the Innovation Finance Division in the EIB Advisory Services Department, discusses the research and some of the main findings.

A French company that farms insects has gone from incubation in 2011 to the construction of a full-scale demonstration biorefinery in late 2015. On the way, the company, Ynsect, has collected a number of eco-innovation awards and serious financial backing, including a €2 million investment from France's Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME), which was agreed at the end of 2015.

Although relatively new to ETV verification, BRE Global has established a firm foundation in this area, working with a number of companies that are now nearly ready to field-test their new products. We asked John Holden of BRE Global about the company’s ETV scheme.