Currently in its fourth edition, the report builds on the most recent research and modeling tools in the fields of industrial ecology and environmental science.
The report aims to hone policymakers’ focus on the challenges the global commons face and to help define pathways and policies to curb domestic and spillover impacts on the global commons.
The 2024 Global Commons Stewardship (GCS) Index, published by the Center for Global Commons (CGC) at the University of Tokyo Institute for Future Initiatives and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), in collaboration with Yale University’s Center for Environmental Law & Policy, presents the latest data on domestic impacts and transboundary spillovers on the global commons.
Currently in its fourth edition, the report builds on the most recent research and modeling tools in the fields of industrial ecology and environmental science. It is themed, ‘Transforming Global Production and Consumption for Earth’s Safe Operating Space.’ The report aims to hone policymakers’ focus on the challenges the global commons face and to help define pathways and policies to curb domestic and spillover impacts on the global commons.
Director of the Center for Global Commons Naoko Ishii is the report’s lead author.
The report highlights three main findings.
1. Global production and consumption systems continue to undermine the global commons, with Group of 20 (G20) countries bearing responsibility for the lion’s share of global negative impacts. In per capita terms, Australia, Canada, and the US are the worst G20 performers. In absolute terms, China, the US, and the EU fare the worst. In addition to production-based negative impacts on the global commons, G20 countries are responsible for more than 70% of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and deforestation in the international trade system. The report notes that “[n]o country has achieved high levels of human development and low impact on the Global Commons.”
2. The environmental stress caused and transmitted through trade systems often exceeds 30% of countries’ total GHG emissions and 50% of countries’ total impacts on deforestation and water stress. For example, the report finds that at least one-third of the total GHG emissions footprint of the Republic of Korea, Japan, Italy, the EU, Germany, France, and the UK is “embodied into trade.” More than half of deforestation caused by Germany, India, Turkey, France, Italy, China, the Republic of Korea, the UK, and Japan is generated outside of those countries’ borders. The report underscores that negative “trade-based spillovers are significant and must be part of any strategy to safeguard the Global Commons,” underpinned by good data and the latest science.
3. The world does not have a global governance mechanism to coherently address spillover impacts associated with unsustainable global supply chains. The report emphasizes the need for effective governance mechanisms to safeguard the global commons.
The Index was launched on 22 March 2024, ahead of several major events, including the Summit of the Future in September, the UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 29) in Azerbaijan in November, and UNFCCC COP 30 in Brazil in 2025, as well as the UN Biodiversity Conference in Colombia in 2024. [Publication: Global Commons Stewardship Index 2024: Transforming Global Production and Consumption for Earth’s Safe Operating Space] [Publication Landing Page] [SDSN Press Release] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on Third Edition of GCS Index]