National ESG index update: An assessment of the G20 countries

Abstract

This paper reviews and updates the indicator system constructed by previous scholars. The update of the index includes: Firstly, the latest data of 2021 is added to the original data of 1990–2020. Secondly, the World Bank's indicator system has been restructured and optimized, for example by removing duplicative and unimportant indicators. To demonstrate the characteristics of the updated national ESG indices, this paper conducts a preliminary analysis of the ESG performance of 19 members of the G20 and draws the following conclusions: In general, the national ESG performance of all G20 countries has increased from 1990 to 2021. China has experienced the largest growth, jumping from last to first place in the East Asia group, which is strongly correlated with regulators' aggressive pursuit of high-quality development through environmental regulation and the Chinese government's goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. ESG development has been slow in India and South Africa, where racial issues, social inequality and government corruption continue to constrain ESG performance.

Keywords

• Q01
• C43
• F01