Green growth indicators

Moving towards green growth requires appropriate information and reliable indicators that support policy development and analysis while tracking progress. The OECD framework for monitoring progress towards green growth includes indicators in four areas: (1) the environmental and resource productivity of the economy; (2) the natural asset base; (3) the environmental dimension of quality of life; and (4) economic opportunities and policy responses. A small sub-set of six headlines indicators has been identified to facilitate communication with policy makers, the media and citizens:

The proposed indicator set is neither exhaustive nor final, and has been kept flexible so that countries can adapt it to different national contexts. It is integrated into OECD work, including country reviews and policy analysis.

Carbon productivity

Non-energy material productivity

Environmentally-adjusted, whole-economy (multi-factor) productivity

Natural resource index

Land cover and use

Population exposure to air pollution (PM2.5)

The OECD continues advancing the measurement of green growth indicators (definitions, calculation methods, underlying data). Currently, the focus is on measuring changes in land cover and people’s exposure to air pollution, greening the multifactor productivity measure, accounting for carbon emissions and raw materials embodied in trade, creating a natural resource index, as well as further development of indicators of economic opportunities and policy responses (such as environmentally related taxes and innovation). This is supported by OECD work on the implementation of the System of Environmental Economic Accounting (SEEA), carried out jointly by the OECD Environment Directorate and the OECD Statistics and Data Directorate. It includes work on air and greenhouse gas emission accounts, natural assets and material flow accounts, as well as work to improve data and accounts on environmental expenditure and tax revenue.

The OECD work also draws on Earth observation and other geospatial data to fill gaps in environmental data and improve its information base.

The OECD designed the Green Growth Indicators to help countries assess and compare their progress. The measurement framework combines the main features of green growth with the basic principles of accounting and the pressure-state-response (PSR) model. The indicators provide an important building block for monitoring progress towards several SDGs, and for the International Programme for Action on Climate (IPAC) that harmonises and fills the gaps of existing data sources, and on key aspects of climate change policymaking, such as climate-related hazards.

Green growth indicators are regularly used in OECD country reviews that help countries improve their policies and practices and share their experience. OECD experts contribute to development and refinement of methodologies for global SDG indicators and to related global data collection. The OECD is an observer to the UN Inter-Agency and Expert Group on SDG indicators.

Highest overall improvements towards green growth, 2015-2020

CO₂ productiv ty (demand-based)

CO

CO₂ productiv ty (production-based)

Ma

(production-based)

CO₂ product v ty (product on-based)

Mater a product v ty (product on-based) ly

CO₂ productiv ty (demand-based)

CO₂ product v ty (demand-based)

CO₂ productiv ty (production-based)

Ma erial productiv ty (production-based)

Low air pol ut on exposure

CO₂ product v ty (product on-based)

Mater a product v ty (product on-based) Env ronmenta ly re a ed taxa ion

Note: Improvements shown here are determined by comparing results in 2020 (or last available year) to 2015 («distance to the leader»). The black dashed line indicates no change; values below that level indicate deterioration.

Source: OECD Green Growth Indicators (database), World Bank (2022). https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=GREEN_GROWTH