Is the reduction in the environmental impact of firm’s activities to the detriment of their business performance? This is not always the case when we take into account the productivity gains linked to the environmental innovations. A series of works combining theoretical argument, case studies and empirical analysis from survey data were mobilized to find out whether innovating may prove to be profitable for the firm to answer environmental constraints. In identifying the circumstances and mechanisms involved results suggest that if environmental policies favour innovation, they are generally expensive for the firms subject to it.