Welcome to the digital platform for the Global Green Economy Index™ (GGEI), a leading measure of country sustainability performance. The GGEI currently covers 160 nations across 18 indicators, measuring both country progress on these indicators since 2005 and the distance of each indicator from globally established targets, where they currently exist. Scroll below for more information on why climate action is so urgent in the 2020s, an overview of the GGEI and use cases linked to ESG investing and other client engagements, as well as the latest aggregate results, video, audio, and other content to better understand how this product can enrich your work around data and sustainability. Sign up for our newsletter for periodic updates about the practice, including data packs and other insight from the Global Green Economy Index™ (GGEI)
Chapter .01
The 2020s are upon us and the climate crisis is accelerating. Scientific consensus tells us that around 2030, the entire carbon budget associated with the 1.5 degree warming scenario will be exhausted, if current rates of country emissions growth persist. While many still view the climate crisis as a distant possibility with vague risks, these impacts are already here and the window for mitigating them is closing rapidly.
Data and measurement have proven to be powerful catalysts for climate action over the past decade. In the 10 years since the first Global Green Economy Index™ (GGEI) was launched, sustainability data has transformed from a niche field to a powerful tool promoting green economy progress and stakeholder accountability. Green economy data was once the domain of large international organizations with periodic collection timelines dependent upon country reporting. Today, we increasingly gather data from sensors, satellites, and citizen scientists using mobile technology, often without the intermediary of government. Similarly, the modeling and application of these data have expanded significantly. Diverse stakeholders – ranging from NGOs, global finance, multinational companies, and academia – apply these data to innovative modeling and tracking platforms.
Against this backdrop of urgency and innovation, we have developed a new approach to mark this special 10-year anniversary edition of the Global Green Economy Index™ (GGEI). The first index of its kind published in 2010, the GGEI has been tracking country performance in the green economy throughout the past decade, taking an integrated view of relative country performance around climate change, sector decarbonization, green markets, and the environment. With this edition, we retooled the methodological approach. For each of the 160 countries tracked in the GGEI, there is a measurement of both progress tracking and target verification that will offer stakeholders in the green economy a new way to understand how policies, investment, and activism can best ensure a real and just transition. Continue reading below for much more detail on these changes, as well as a wide range of videos, data files, and other links to learn more about this new GGEI.
Chapter .02
The Global Green Economy Index™ (GGEI) measures the green economy performance of 160 countries across 18 indicators. Our measurement approach accounts for two considerations: the progress on each indicator from 2005 to the present and the distance between each country’s current performance and that required to reach global sustainability targets. You can learn more about this novel measurement approach in Chapter 3.
The GGEI is defined by four key dimensions: climate change & social equity, sector decarbonization, markets & ESG investment, and environmental health. The GGEI was the first green economy index, launched in 2010, and today is the most widely referenced product of its kind internationally, utilized by policymakers, international organizations, ESG investors, and companies to evaluate and understand linkages between country green economy performance and their own commercial or organizational agendas.
Like many indices, the GGEI is used to benchmark performance, inform ESG investment strategy, communicate areas that need improvement, and educate diverse stakeholders how they too can promote progress. The GGEI is also useful as the foundation for creating customized sustainability measurement frameworks for a diverse range of stakeholders. Learn more here about subscribing to the GGEI or leveraging our model to create bespoke sustainability frameworks. The GGEI is published by Dual Citizen LLC, a private U.S.-based consultancy. The Global Green Economy Index™ (GGEI) is a trademark of Dual Citizen LLC.
Chapter .03
For each of the 18 GGEI indicators, we measure the change in performance between a reference year (usually 2005) and the most recent year (usually 2020). For example, what was the emission intensity of a country’s economy in 2005 compared to 2020? Is this change an improvement or a decline in performance?
We also calculate its distance from globally accepted targets associated with emission reductions, SDGs and other environmental, social and governance goals. For example, what are the efficiency improvements in sectors like buildings, transport and energy and how does this rate compare to what is required to keep on track to limit warming to 1,5 degrees Celsius?
These two measurement components – the change in performance over time and the distance from global targets – offer new insight to market actors prioritizing ESG-aligned investment and commercial opportunities. The rate of change indicates green market momentum. Markets that are rapidly evolving towards more sustainable models may offer greater green investment opportunities. And the distance of each country from globally established targets conveys just how genuinely each market is realizing green growth.
The graphic below illustrates these two components of the GGEI measurement approach as they related to the air quality indicator on the Environmental Health dimension of the GGEI. For a full description of the 18 GGEI indicators, please click here.
Chapter .04
Market actors increasingly evaluate the sustainability context of their investments. Customers and shareholders – in addition to expanding climate-linked regulation globally – exert growing pressure on companies to transform their business models along environmental, social and governance (ESG) values. Company-level ESG data is rapidly proliferating and enriching how investors and companies assess both opportunities and risk. Country-level GGEI data can enhance this analysis further by showing which markets have green momentum and which ones pose the greatest risk of regulation due to sluggish progress towards global sustainability targets.
This country-level sustainability context provided by the GGEI will become increasingly important in the 2020s, for three main reasons: opportunity, risk, and activism:
Opportunity Markets with rapid progress in key sectors or technologies around sustainability are often prospective investment targets. The GGEI emphasis on measuring progress across our 18 indicators illuminates for investors where this momentum and investment opportunity is.
Risk Countries with sluggish progress towards global sustainability targets may face abrupt regulation from domestic policymakers. The GGEI emphasis on measuring the distance of each country from global targets illuminates where this risk may be highest and how to prepare for it.
Activism Reputational risk to market actors will continue to expand in proportion to the associated climate risks of investment and business activity. The GGEI framework provides tracking and insight for our clients to stay one step ahead of these developments.
Chapter .05
Partners and clients who subscribe to the GGEI can access the full data, which is continuously updated as new data is published, or new sustainability targets established. These data subscriptions are fully customizable: some partners are only interested in the full GGEI data while others are more interested in receiving an interpretation of the results for countries, regions, or topics central to their inquiry. Our goal is always to create partnerships and GGEI datasets tailored to these unique needs.
Given our experience creating the GGEI and advising other organizations on index development, we also help clients create bespoke sustainability measurement frameworks. These engagements empower clients to define the key topics driving their sustainability strategy, locate the right data sets to measure them, and integrate them into an appropriate measurement framework for the desired target audience. In addition to supporting clients on the structure and methodology, we can also advise on data selection and strategies for addressing the ever-present challenge of missing data or lack of availability.
Chapter .06
As a first step to exploring how a GGEI subscription or consulting engagement could enrich your work, contact our founder, Jeremy Tamanini. Jeremy has worked globally on projects linking data and sustainability for more than a decade, as well as being the creator of the Global Green Economy Index™ (GGEI). He is a frequent speaker at conferences, participant in private workshops, and leader of online and live meetings globally. To connect with Jeremy or to discuss these consulting offerings further, please contact him here.
Thank you to the following individuals for their support in developing the special 10-year anniversary edition of the GGEI: Marcus Andersson (Future Place Leadership), Andrea Bassi (KnowlEdge srl), Jessica Bentley-Jacobs (Hydro One), Libby Bernick (Impact Cubed), Jonathan DeBusk (IBM), Steven Hamilton (Deloitte), Willer Helga (The Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL), Jac Humpherys (Yellowball), Bruno Le Feuvre (World Intellectual Property Organization), Alex Mango (Yellowball), Victor Milla (Rainforest Foundation UK), Shailesh Murali (DXC Technology), Deng Palomares (Sea Around Us), Daniel Pauly (Sea Around Us), Laura Powell (Yellowball), Karuna Ramakrishnan (Meta), Timothe Vincent (Protected Seas), Edward Vixseboxse (Province of South Holland).
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