After years of discussions about issues such as climate change, air pollution and resource shortage, sustainable development has become a popular concept that many countries want to improve. Some countries really are trying hard. Germany, for example, has been working everywhere from enhancing sustainable transportation to increasing citizens’ involvement in green policy. But there are also countries which think they are doing enough, yet actions don’t come close to making up for the damage that their economy does to the environment.

It’s interesting that our countries never get tired of competing with others. Imagine a flock of children are trying to prove to their mother, that who’s the one that loves her the most. Some make a lot of money; some take good care of her. In this case, the mother (the earth) doesn’t speak, so we need judges.

The Global Green Economy Index (GGEI) by Dual Citizen LLC is designed to measure and rank countries’ performances in the green economy. In other words, this is a real indicator of how well countries are treating the environment. GGEI was first published in 2010, and has been acknowledged as one of the main indexes to rank national performances of green economy.

There are two sets of ranking: perception and actual performance.

The perception survey is conducted based on the respondents’ assessment on their own green economy performance. The actual performance is evaluated by expert practitioners. Both results were based on the same set of indicators which lie under four main categories: Leadership & Climate Change, Efficiency Sectors, Markets & Investment and Environment & Natural Capital.

The latest 2014 GGEI report evaluated 60 countries’ performance based on the above categories. Sweden, Norway and Costa Rica are winners of the first three places.

       

 

While most of the nations have similar ranking between the two, there are countries that show significant difference. For example, United States is 6^th in perception and 28^th in actual performance. China’s perception ranking is 13^th yet its actual performance ranking is 55^th.

Obviously, the fastest growing economy did not reach its expectation at all. What went wrong? If we break down the four categories, China is investing heavily on the green market, but its efficiency definitely needs to be improved. Environment & Natural Capital is China’s weakest categories, everybody in and away from China wonders when people would be able to breath in Beijing without worrying getting sick. What can the government do to bring this score up? Perhaps that’s what China will get inspired by reading this report.

 

GGEI is an important communications tool for policy makers and international organizations, because it is a good reference point. While most countries share a common goal of maintaining a healthy environment, GGEI provides criticism and reflection on different aspects. It helps countries to realize what is working out and what more needs to be done.

The 2016 GGEI report will be available in the fall, according to the Dual Citizen website.