Switzerland defies Nordic supremacy

Autor: Max Schieler, Senior SI Country Analyst, RobecoSAM
RobecoSAM’s semi-annual report provides a succinct summary and analysis of the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) profiles of 65 countries around the globe. It builds on the results of RobecoSAM’s proprietary Country Sustainability Ranking (CSR) tool which collects and analyzes ESG data from 22 developed and 43 emerging market economies via a structured and comprehensive framework to calculate an overall country score.
The resulting scores offer insights into the investment risks and opportunities associated with each country and provide investors with a better frame of reference for making comparisons among countries and regions from a risk-return perspective.
Sweden has successfully defended its position as the world’s most sustainable country, just ahead of Switzerland and its Nordic neighbors Norway, Denmark and Finland. All enjoy a very robust and well-balanced sustainability profile across all three ESG dimensions.
Environmental, social and governance risks continue to dominate the current risks landscape. The Nordic countries and Switzerland maintained their leading positions as they best preserved their democratic institutions and governance quality. With a considerable number of countries in advanced economies as well as emerging markets, suffering from growing political polarization, populist movements and even more authoritarian rule, good governance is under pressure. This is problematic at a time when crucial challenges such as climate change, increasing inequality, and latent geopolitical tensions require a consistent, coordinated and decisive policy response.
Read the full Country Sustainability Ranking Update