Cleantech goes far beyond clean, sustainable and 'green' technology. It covers a wide range of products, services and processes each of which contributes to reducing our carbon footprint and human impact on the environment. There are also economic benefits too. As such, the economy of Flanders as a whole stands to benefit when companies include cleantech in their range and business operations. Naturally, we need to keep tabs on sectors where things are moving at a pace. So this edition of the Cleantech Report includes a status report and a summary of the current trends and evolutions in the innovative Flemish cleantech ecosystem. This chapter is dedicated to that summary.
Flanders is an attractive region thanks to the many companies active across a wide range of cleantech sectors. Foreign investment in Flemish innovations that support the climate and the energy transition rose to 1.64 billion euros in 2022, resulting in 960 extra jobs and 23 new projects. Foreign investment in 'Research & Development' (R&D) is at an all-time high, accounting for one in five projects and one in four jobs in the Flemish R&D landscape.
In 2020, the total spent on R&D was estimated at 9.6 billion euros in the Flemish Region. As in previous years, there was also an increase in the R&D spending in 2020. When combined with the lower GDP figure for 2020 due to the COVID-19 recession, this resulted in a R&D intensity of 3.6% of gross domestic product (GDP). R&D investment in the Flemish Region has been higher than the 3% GDP threshold since 2019.
Companies account for the bulk of R&D spending. This share is also steadily growing - from 67% in 2010 to 72%, accounting for 6.9 billion euros, in 2020. The companies behind this chiefly employ 250+ employees (59% of total spending in 2020) and include universities, academic research institutes and governments too.