The spillover index

In 2015 the United Nations (partly at the instigation of two women from Colombia, Paula Caballero and Patti Londoño) agreed to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These 17 goals were intended to be reached by 2030 and include things like no poverty (Goal 1), quality education (Goal 4), gender equality (Goal 5) and climate action (Goal 13).

This year, having reached the halfway point toward these goals, the United Nations looked at our progress. Sadly, it looks like we will not reach our targets. While one can track progress on individual goals, it is also possible to look at progress country by country. There are 166 countries for which there are reasonable statistics on progress toward reaching the SDGs. Finland tops the list as the best with a percentage score of 87 (100 being all the goals completed). Canada scores 78 (26th), and the Netherlands scores 79, ranking at number 20. The lowest-ranked country, South Sudan, scored 39, providing an index of the range of percentages. Maybe it is unsurprising that Western developed countries are doing better at attaining the SDGs.

A telling index

But let’s look at development another way. A broader view of progress is provided by the Spillover Index. This index takes into account how a nation’s actions impact other countries’ ability to meet their SDGs. If we in Canada import cheap clothes from a low-income country and, in so doing, keep individuals in that nation in poverty, thus harming that country’s development, our score goes down. If, in setting up trade deals with other countries, we push for gender equality, this positively impacts those nations in meeting their SDGs and our score goes up. These spillover effects are measured in three dimensions: environmental and social impacts embodied in trade; economy and finance; and security. A higher score means more positive spillover effects.

Western countries do not do so well on this Spillover Index. Finland scores 74 and is now ranked 128 out of the 166 countries. Canada scores 69 and ranks 134th, while the Netherlands scores 51 and ranks 161st. On this index, the best country (ranked 1st) is Comoros, with a score of 100. Other high-ranking countries are low-income countries. South Sudan is ranked 18th with a score of 99.

Double standards

The Spillover Index suggests that we in the affluent West may be meeting our SDGs on the backs of low-income countries. And this mirrors an objection that developing countries have been making to developed nations about climate change: the current climate problems are due to the fossil fuels that have been burned in the past to build your economies, and now you are asking us not to burn fossil fuels, preventing us from developing as you did. This objection is a basis for the argument that developed nations owe low- and middle-income countries restitution to even out the development landscape. As Christians, we would do well to look at how our economic and environmental practices have impacted our world neighbours.