Europa - European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009 - EUROPA

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Jobs in low-carbon sectors are already outstripping those in Europe's traditional polluting industries in Europe, but the EU is missing the boat as regards harnessing the economic crisis to kick-start the transition to a low-carbon, competitive economy, a WWF study published last week shows. Despite the EU's leadership in green technology innovation, the US has been far more successful at attracting venture capital to put products to market. The EU's climate legislation attempts to create a framework for overcoming hurdles to investment. clean-technology sectors are weathering the crisis better than others. Although their share of venture capital investment was down 48% in the first quarter of 2009, they fared much better compared to an economy-wide drop of 61%.