Sustainable development requires incremental changes and not necessarily radical solutions. Economic vitality is required for long-term environmental protection and sustainable development. It requires commitment from industry and understanding of society to pursue science and technology options that will lead to economic growth. Public policy and possibly some new business models will be required to deliver the benefits of environment-related technologies around the world. In the discussions that followed, the following issues were raised.
Society has to create support systems to help the SMEs.
Technology transfer should take the form of technical cooperation. Process innovation and product innovation are equally important. Information alone is not sufficient and knowledge is the key to generating technology change. A six-point framework was proposed for a discussion on this issue. Industry must lead and must innovate to make sustainable development a reality since leadership and innovation can turn technical solutions and opportunities into realities.