It is widely accepted that there are only 2 certainties in life, death and taxes. A cynic might add a third, European legislation. At the Innovation 2008 Conference in Munich last November I became involved in a number of discussions with other attendees regarding forthcoming legislation. As a topic of discussion it came in a surprise second, after the financial crisis. One of the points in the discussions was the issue of accounting for environmental legislation within product planning and within an innovation strategy generally.

As with all things, there are different aspects to this and the central question is really, with what risks is the business confronted as a result of legislative changes and, turning the whole thing around, what opportunities can we generate as a result of this. One thing is clear, it is becoming ever more important to take environmental aspects into consideration, this of course assumes it is clear which environmental aspects are important and what needs to be done. In addition to laws regarding product recycling, there is legislation forthcoming regarding energy consumption, such as the Energy using Products directive. To be fair, similar legislation is also being considered in the USA, Japan and China. Clearly this will have a dramatic effect on future product design.

At IMIG we have developed a model which is shown graphically in the picture below and already adopted by some of our clients. Environmental aspects are included as a key part of the overall innovation strategy. As environmental awareness grows, the importance of such a holistic approach will increase as companies seek to maintain their competitive edge in spite, of because of, new legislation. If you don’t believe me, look what’s happened to light bulbs.