University of Tokyo: The Global Commons Stewardship Index 2021 assesses 100 countries

The Global Commons Stewardship (GCS) Index 2021 has been released as a part of the Global Commons Stewardship Initiative, jointly implemented by the Center for Global Commons (CGC), SYSTEMIQ, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and World Resources Institute (WRI).

The GCS Index is a comprehensive index that compares the environmental impacts on key components of the Earth environmental system (global commons) such as climate change, biodiversity, and land use change, resulting from socioeconomic activities of each country, and encourages action. It aims to stimulate international policy debate on how to safeguard the global commons and to encourage behavioral change in society at large. The SDSN, Yale University, and CGC have been working together to develop the GCS Index, and a prototype version covering 50 countries was released in December 2020.

In the 2021 version, 99 countries and the EU were assessed based on 33 indicators, and each country’s trajectory toward the 2030/2050 climate goals was newly assessed. The results suggest that almost all countries and regions are unlikely to achieve the 2030/2050 goals and that drastic socioeconomic system transformation is urgently needed.

This report was presented in a panel discussion on “Global Commons Stewardship Based on Science and Empathy” at the Tokyo Forum Online 2021 on December 2.