Denmark and Ireland are leading the way in the transition towards fair and prosperous sustainability, according to the second edition of the EU’s Transitions Performance Index (TPI) published on 14 March.
1. Transitions Performance Index
The TPI ranks EU countries and 45 other countries, representing 76% of the world population, on their performance between 2011 and 2020. It shows overall performance in four specific transitions – economic, social, environmental and governance – mirroring the EU policy agenda and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
According to the TPI, all EU countries are strong transition performers and show progress rates (4.9%) above the global average (4.3%). Additionally, all EU countries, except Hungary, have improved their performance since 2011. Croatia, in particular, reveals an exceptional increase (13.5%), as well as Greece and Estonia (progress above 10%).
The sharp increase in Ireland (9.8%) demonstrates that a country can continue to progress even from a leading position. As for Switzerland and Denmark, they have ranked consistently in the top of the TPI ranking, while Ireland progressed to third place and the Netherlands to fourth place.
In contrast, strong performers such as Finland and Sweden seem to have come to a standstill and are at risk of losing ground in the transition process, “unless they renew their collective efforts“, the TPI suggests. Sweden seems to be losing ground in the transition process with limited progress especially in social transition (-0,3%).
Denmark🇩🇰 and Ireland🇮🇪 are European and global transition leaders according to the latest Transitions Performance Index!
— EU Commission in Ireland (@eurireland) March 14, 2022
It ranks EU Member States + 45 other countries in 4⃣ specific transitions:
🔹economic
🔹social
🔹environmental
🔹governance.
See https://t.co/cpIyeSR30g pic.twitter.com/YenO2XmyLd
2. Sustainability
The index reflects the path taken by various countries over the past decade towards inclusive and prosperous sustainability.
“Existing and emerging challenges require us to build a more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive society. The TPI can support the discussion, help us to reflect and change perceptions to steer our path towards that aim. We must ensure our youth can look forward to a healthy, safe and innovative future,” said Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth.
Thanks to the development of Research and Innovation (R&I), the social and economic transformation towards sustainability has been gaining track. By increasing the efficiency and adaptability of economic and social systems, R&I contributes to progress in the transitions measured by the TPI, the Commission said. Moreover, TPI’s report illustrates that some countries could develop and take further advantage of their innovation capacity to improve their transitions performance.
The TPI found a correlation between the leading transition countries and their high degree of leadership in social and governance transitions. Moreover, the findings show that continuous investment in education pays off, with the top economic performers scoring the highest in expenditure per student.
