SGI | Sustainable Governance Indicators

ABOUT THE SGI

The Sustainable Governance Indicators (SGI) project aims to facilitate transitions towards sustainable governance models that foster well-being within planetary boundaries, and promote effective, accountable, and inclusive state institutions.

To achieve this, the project developed a comprehensive monitoring instrument to evaluate the sustainability of policymaking and the quality of democratic governance in the areas of economic, social and environmental policy across 30 OECD and EU countries.

SGI DATA

Survey Structure

Explore the SGI’s three dimensions to dive straight into the underlying components. Select your area of interest to discover how countries are performing.

Create your own rankings by changing
component’s relative weighting

Our studies offer comprehensive examinations of key aspects and region-specific challenges in sustainable governance. Our deep dives identify promising governance innovations that are essential for successful transformation

SGI Policy Briefs

Our policy briefs examine specific policy challenges, providing summaries of current interventions and good practices for policymakers, while considering their key impacts.

SGI Country Reports

Our country reports examine developments across all 64 indicators, providing detailed explanations for the numerical assessments in our key focus areas: sustainable policymaking, foresight in governance, and democratic governance.

Assessing Progress in Sustainable Governance

Results of the SGI Survey

Climate change, geopolitical instability, techno- logical change and sociodemographic change are testing the capacity of OECD and EU countries to innovate and adapt like never before. Our analysis reveals a troubling pattern: most advanced economies are still not adequately equipped to deliver sustainable policy. The Nordic countries are among the best prepared.

Download the Study Go to Publications

Toward Climate Neutrality

Policy Brief 2024/02

How determined are OECD and EU countries in pursuing the goal of climate neutrality by 2050? Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Spain are setting the pace with their effective policy strategies. In contrast, Canada, Australia, Israel, Poland and Hungary need to significantly ramp up their efforts. The analysis compares the effectiveness of national policies in climate protection, energy transition and circular economy practices.

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Assessing Zero-Emissions Energy Transitions:

A Systemic View

The primary objective of this report is to formu- late a comprehensive analytical framework for tracking sector-level net-zero transition progress. Unlike existing frameworks that often possess a broad scope with little theoretical underpinning, this report adopts a theory-led and focused approach to enhance result interpretability.

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Meeting Climate Targets

Policy Brief 2024/01

Even pioneering nations lag in systemic change toward full decarbonization, yet their examples show that acceleration is possible. Our sectoral analysis highlights specific opportunities for, and barriers to, climate policy reform in Denmark, Norway, the United Kingdom, and Germany.

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Governance Study

Liberal democracies must practice forward-looking governance

Our study highlights the key differences found among EU and OECD countries with regard to their capacity to develop sustainable policy strategies, the ability to horizontally and vertically coordinate policy, and the acumen in building public consensus. Although progress is needed in all 41 countries, our study also points to some countries featuring good governance practices.

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SGI 2021 COVID Special Study

How Resilient are SGI Countries?

Well-organized democracies have navigated their way through the coronavirus crisis, benefitting from forward-looking and participation-oriented approaches to governance. We see worrying developments in states where media freedom, civil liberties and an independent judiciary were already under threat before the crisis, resulting in the weakest COVID-19 response performances.

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Policy Brief

Major differences in the conditions for successful COVID-19 crisis management

The COVID-19 crisis is functioning as a litmus test of wealthier democracies’ future viability. EU and OECD countries vary considerably in terms of their pre-crisis socioeconomic conditions. Their capacity for political reform also varies widely. These differences are likely to grow as the COVID-19 crisis continues.

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Social Justice in the EU and OECD

Index Report 2019

The Social Justice Index investigates opportunities for social participation in 41 EU and OECD countries on the basis of 46 quantitative and qualitative criteria. It examines six dimensions of social justice: poverty, education, the labor market, intergenerational justice, health, and social inclusion and nondiscrimination.

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SGI 2018

Sustainable Policies and Good Governance in the OECD and EU

The quality of democracy in the OECD and EU has declined in recent years. At the same time, growing political polarization has made the day-to-day work of governance and thus member states’ capacity to reform more difficult. The SGI examines 41 countries in terms of their democratic standards, quality of governance and policy outcomes.

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Social Justice in the EU 2017

Index Report

The Social Justice Index compares 28 EU states across six dimensions: Poverty prevention, equitable education, labor market access, social cohesion and non-discrimination, health, as well as intergenerational justice. It reveals that EU countries vary considerably in their ability to create a truly inclusive society.

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Social Justice in the EU 2016

Index Report

Based on quantitative and qualitative SGI data, the Social Justice Index compares the 28 EU states across six dimensions: Poverty prevention, equitable education, labor market access, social cohesion and non-discrimination, health, as well as intergenerational justice. It reveals that EU countries vary considerably in their ability to create a truly inclusive society.

Download the Study Go to Publications

UN SDGs

Are the rich countries ready?

The MDGs have led to tangible progress in many developing countries. The United Nations’ new global Sustainable Development Goals will additionally require industrialized countries to implement such standards beginning in 2016. But the world’s first comprehensive stocktaking shows that most industrialized nations are a long way from serving as role models for sustainable development.

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SGI COUNTRIES

The SGI examines 30 member states of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the European Union (EU), focusing on their performance in democratic governance, foresight- driven leadership and sustainable policymaking.

results

SGI ANALYSIS

Our new Analysis section allows you correlate individual results. You can plot each dimension, category, criterion and indicator on the horizontal (X) and vertical (Y) axes.

Higher scores are represented further to the right and top.

Trendline

Trendlines can be added to the graph, making it easier to spot significant correlations between selected variables.

Z-Axis

Add a third indicator to your analysis.

Quadrants

Two medians divide the
graph into four
quadrant groups:

Above-median perfor-
mances on both axes.

Below-median perfor-
mance on the X-axis,
above-median on the
Y-axis.

Above-median perfor-
mance on the X-axis,
below-median on the
Y-axis.

Below-median perfor-
mance on both axes.

The SGI provide the most comprehensive survey of sustainable governance in OECD and EU countries. Advocating the exchange of good practices, we offer full access to our data set and enable comparisons that generate future innovations in governance.

ABOUT THE SGI

SGI DATA

Survey Structure

Democratic Government

Governing with Foresight

Sustainable Policymaking

Democratic Government
Ranking

Governing with Foresight
Ranking

Sustainable Policymaking
Ranking

SGI PUBLICATIONS

SGI Studies

SGI Policy Briefs

SGI Country Reports

SGI COUNTRIES

SGI ANALYSIS

Trendline

Z-Axis

Quadrants

The SGI provide the most comprehensive survey of sustainable governance in OECD and EU countries. Advocating the exchange of good practices, we offer full access to our data set and enable comparisons that generate future innovations in governance.

Democratic Government

Governing with Foresight

Sustainable Policymaking

Democratic GovernmentRanking

Governing with ForesightRanking

Sustainable PolicymakingRanking

SGI COUNTRIES

Trendline

Z-Axis

Quadrants

Democratic Government
Ranking

Governing with Foresight
Ranking

Sustainable Policymaking
Ranking