Launch event
On December 4, 2021, the International Institute of Green Finance (IIGF) and the Institute of International Finance Forum (IFF) jointly released the Global Green Finance Development Index (GGFDI) and country rankings. This ranking aims to provide policymakers, financial practitioners, businesses and academic circles with up-to-date, comparable and consistent information on green finance developments in different countries and regions, which is of vital importance in calling for joint efforts at the national and international levels. China ranks fourth in this year’s rankings.
Project background
The Global Green Finance Development Index and country rankings are based on the Global Green Finance Development Index and Progress Report Project, carried out by IIGF and IFF. The project consists of an overview report and country rankings, and the results of the project will be published in the IFF flagship report. The overview part introduces the development of global green finance, summarizes the characteristics of green finance development in different regions, and discusses the challenges of promoting global green finance and the policy priorities in dealing with the challenges.
Research Results
Global Green Finance Country Ranking covers the world’s 55 largest economies based on the World Bank’s 2019 GDP purchasing power parity ranking (the top 50 countries and five countries highly typical in economic, political and geographic characteristics were chosen). According to the overall GGFDI score, France ranks first, China ranks fourth, and the US tenth. The top 10 countries are in the following order: France, The United Kingdom, Germany, China, the Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Denmark, Spain and the United States (see table below for the full ranking result).
The co-chief economist of IFF, Zhuang Juzhong, said that as a response to climate change and a critical step in promoting sustainable growth, green finance had experienced rapid development in recent years. But still, it faces many problems and challenges, such as unbalanced development among countries, low product diversity, and inconsistency for definition and disclosure standards. It is without a doubt, addressing these issues and challenges requires sustained policy efforts. Therefore, we sincerely hope the Global Green Finance Development Index provides some valuable information for policymakers.
Professor Wang Yao, the Director-General of the IIGF, said that the Global Green Finance Development Index has 53 indicators measuring green finance development in three aspects, policy and strategy, products and markets, and international cooperation. It measures the government ambitions, actions, and effects of the green finance market at the national level. The selection of indicators considers the principles of fairness and comparability as much as possible under the current data availability. This is the first year for the publication of this index and ranking results, and GGFDI will continue to be improved in the future as global green finance develops and data possibilities increase.
The finance sector plays a vital role in supporting climate governance, implementing climate cooperation, and coping with climate change. In particular, it is widely acknowledged that green finance should be emphasized when it comes to achieving emission reduction targets, building market mechanisms, and deepening global cooperation, which can help with climate change. By establishing a global green finance development index and evaluation system, the Global Green Finance Development Index and Progress Report aim to promote global action on green finance, deepen international cooperation, contribute to the pace of global action to climate change and sustainable development.
| Table 1. Global Green Finance Development Index and Country Rankings, All Countries | ||||
| Overall | Policy and Strategy | Market and Product | International Cooperation | |
| France | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| UK | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 |
| Germany | 3 | 17 | 2 | 3 |
| China | 4 | 3 | 8 | 5 |
| Netherlands | 5 | 9 | 3 | 11 |
| Japan | 6 | 5 | 11 | 1 |
| Sweden | 7 | 10 | 7 | 13 |
| Denmark | 8 | 11 | 5 | 20 |
| Spain | 9 | 12 | 10 | 6 |
| USA | 10 | 38 | 4 | 17 |
| Norway | 11 | 28 | 12 | 9 |
| Austria | 12 | 22 | 9 | 26 |
| Italy | 13 | 19 | 13 | 16 |
| Singapore | 14 | 13 | 15 | 25 |
| Mexico | 15 | 31 | 19 | 8 |
| Belgium | 16 | 16 | 18 | 21 |
| Chile | 17 | 14 | 27 | 12 |
| Switzerland | 18 | 20 | 22 | 14 |
| Ireland | 19 | 15 | 16 | 31 |
| Hungary | 20 | 4 | 17 | 34 |
| Portugal | 21 | 6 | 20 | 29 |
| South Korea | 22 | 7 | 25 | 24 |
| Brazil | 23 | 8 | 34 | 7 |
| Canada | 24 | 41 | 21 | 10 |
| Colombia | 25 | 29 | 23 | 19 |
| Poland | 26 | 23 | 14 | 33 |
| South Africa | 27 | 21 | 32 | 18 |
| New Zealand | 28 | 36 | 24 | 27 |
| Greece | 29 | 32 | 26 | 30 |
| Philippines | 30 | 27 | 29 | 32 |
| India | 31 | 46 | 28 | 15 |
| Indonesia | 32 | 24 | 36 | 23 |
| Thailand | 33 | 18 | 33 | 35 |
| Malaysia | 34 | 37 | 30 | 40 |
| Russia | 35 | 34 | 35 | 41 |
| Argentina | 36 | 30 | 41 | 28 |
| Czech | 37 | 33 | 31 | 47 |
| Peru | 38 | 35 | 37 | 36 |
| Australia | 39 | 51 | 38 | 22 |
| Romania | 40 | 26 | 43 | 42 |
| Egypt | 41 | 47 | 42 | 38 |
| UAE | 42 | 43 | 40 | 50 |
| Vietnam | 43 | 48 | 39 | 46 |
| Israel | 44 | 40 | 44 | 45 |
| Nigeria | 45 | 44 | 46 | 39 |
| Kazakhstan | 46 | 25 | 49 | 49 |
| Bangladesh | 47 | 42 | 48 | 44 |
| Turkey | 48 | 52 | 47 | 37 |
| Ukraine | 49 | 39 | 45 | 52 |
| Sri Lanka | 50 | 49 | 50 | 43 |
| Saudi Arabia | 51 | 50 | 51 | 48 |
| Pakistan | 52 | 45 | 52 | 51 |
| Iran | 53 | 54 | 53 | 53 |
| Iraq | 54 | 55 | 54 | 54 |
| Algeria | 55 | 53 | 55 | 55 |
Souce：IFF Global Finance and Development Report 2021