From April to July 2012, Washington-based consultancy, Dual Citizen, polled thousands of non-governmental practitioners working in climate change policy, clean tech (venture, private equity and within firms), carbon markets, think tanks, academia, and sustainable tourism.
According to the results of the survey, as in 2010 and 2011, Germany and Denmark top both the perception and performance measures in the GGEI, solidifying their leadership position in the global green economy. “Despite financial upheaval in the Eurozone, Germany and Denmark have remained committed to green growth, realizing strong results on every dimension of the GGEI,” say the authors of the report, adding that Italy’s third overall result “suggests that a relatively strong policy framework combined with robust clean tech investment may carry Italy’s green economy through an otherwise turbulent period”.
The report continues that “perceptions of the United States and China remain strong as incremental improvements in each nation appear to outweigh the continuing lack of a binding commitment to emissions reductions”.
In terms of leadership in the global green economy, four northern European countries (Germany, Sweden, Norway and Denmark) continue to consolidate as institutions and individuals there proactively brand themselves green. Although South Africa got a big boost in the performance index after hosting COP17 in Durban, Dual Citizen stresses that “its green reputation did not improve commensurately”, while smaller economies like New Zealand, Iceland, and Israel illustrate that “size is not everything and nations with vocal advocates for green growth can break through”.
Meanwhile, this year sees the first-ever survey measuring green city reputations, and ranked Copenhagen first, followed by Stockholm, Oslo, Amsterdam and New York.
“The GGEI demonstrates the robust data and analysis we bring to bear helping our clients improve their international green branding and communications programs. The new green city rankings expand our services to urban stakeholders and offer guidance on coordinating national and city efforts promoting green economic growth,” explains Jeremy Tamanini, the founder of Dual Citizen Inc.
“Actively communicating 2020 renewable energy goals drives positive perceptions of national policy in our survey, but the pace of actual progress is uneven at best,” say the authors of the report. “Experts continue to view Germany, China, the United States and India as the best targets for clean tech investment but smaller nations - notably Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Israel – are gaining recognition.”
Lastly, the United Kingdom is tied with New Zealand at the top of the sustainable tourism performance index but remains “under-recognized” in the expert survey for its merits in this realm.
Dual Citizen will host a webinar on Thursday 27 September at 10am EST to review the results of the annual GGEI. For more details and an invitation to this webinar, email here.
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