Global Green Economy Index 2011

Measuring National Green Reputation and Performance

The 2011 Global Green Economy Index (GGEI), is a robust analytic tool ranking expert perceptions of national green reputations against a new custom index of 37 datasets measuring their performance.  The 2011 GGEI ranks 27 countries on 4 dimensions: leadership, domestic policy frameworks, cleantech investment and green tourism.

Key findings from the 2011 GGEI:

Expert practitioners in the green economy rank Germany as the top overall national green performer while the new index scoring country performance places New Zealand on top.

The aggregate GGEI results show that the United States and China – the two largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters - are making perceived gains in this sector largely due to the size and economic opportunity of their cleantech markets.  However, their overall performance continues to lag behind that of their European counterparts, particularly Germany, Denmark and Sweden.

The leadership index dimension recognizes hosts of the annual Conference of Parties (COP) event as top performers yet experts credit national leadership based more on proven commitments to sustainability through the structure and funding of national ministries and institutions.

Experts generally believe that large economies have the right domestic policies in place to promote renewable energy yet these same nations often fail to register consistent improvements in lowering their GHG emissions and implementing best practice clean energy policies.

Experts view the world’s largest economies and their BIC counterparts as the best targets for cleantech investment but smaller nations with relatively mature cleantech sectors exhibit more robust investment climates according to GGEI data.

For the second year in a row, New Zealand dominates the green tourism dimension, in part due to the strength of the country’s national green tourism accreditation scheme, a standard lacking in the majority of the 27 nations covered.

Executive summary of the report: www.dualcitizeninc.com

Sources: www.uncsd2012.org,www.dualcitizeninc.com