An optimistic journey toward a greener future
By Dr Tanusree Chakravarty Mukherjee
The story of green growth is not a story of perfection; perhaps it is a story of progress, determination and optimism. The Green Growth Index (GGI), developed by the Global Green Growth Institute, provides an important window into how countries are progressing towards a more sustainable future.
Rather than measuring economic development alone, the Index captures the balance between economic advancement, environmental sustainability and social well-being. It assesses progress across four key dimensions: efficient and sustainable resource use, protection of natural capital, creation of green economic opportunities, and social inclusion.
These dimensions reflect the world’s shared commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, fulfilling the Paris Climate Agreement’s goal of limiting global temperature increases to well below 2°C while pursuing efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C, and protecting biodiversity under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, including targets to conserve 30 per cent of land, seas and inland waters, restore 30 per cent of degraded ecosystems, and reduce the introduction of invasive species.
The 2025 Green Growth Index brings together evidence from 164 countries worldwide: 45 in Africa, 29 in the Americas, 46 in Asia, 39 in Europe and five in Oceania. Although these countries follow different development pathways and face different environmental, economic and social challenges, they share a common destination – a future in which economic development and environmental protection can advance together.
The global picture offers strong reason for optimism. Almost half of the countries achieved moderate GGI scores between 40 and 60, representing a substantial proportion of the world’s land area. A further 25 countries reached the high-performance range of 60 to 80, with many located in Europe. At the same time, 28 countries remained within the lower range of 20 to 40, particularly across Africa and Asia.
Yet one message stands out: not a single country recorded a score below 20. This demonstrates that, despite significant differences in performance, the global transition towards green growth is already underway.
At the top of this global journey stands Czechia, which recorded the highest GGI score of 70.75. Yet even the world’s leading performer has not reached the perfect target of 100. This is perhaps the most encouraging message emerging from the Index: no country has achieved perfection.
There remains room for every nation to improve, innovate, learn from others and accelerate its transition towards a greener and more inclusive economy.
Malaysia’s green growth journey
Within this global landscape, Malaysia stands out as an important regional performer. In 2025, Malaysia recorded a GGI score of 53.58, making it the second-highest performer in Southeast Asia, behind Singapore, which ranked slightly higher with a score of 54.92.
Malaysia’s position demonstrates meaningful progress towards balancing economic development with environmental sustainability and social well-being. However, the overall score tells only part of the story. Looking at the Index’s four dimensions provides a more nuanced picture of Malaysia’s green growth journey.
For efficient and sustainable resource use, Malaysia recorded a score of 41.97, compared with Singapore’s 53.62. This substantial difference highlights an important area for Malaysia to strengthen.
Improving energy and resource efficiency, reducing waste, encouraging circular-economy practices and accelerating the adoption of cleaner technologies will be essential for Malaysia to move towards a more resource-efficient growth model.
Malaysia, however, demonstrates a comparative advantage in protecting natural capital. The country recorded a score of 60.65, higher than Singapore’s 54.60.
This relatively strong performance reflects Malaysia’s important natural base and its progress in protecting and managing natural capital. Malaysia’s forests, biodiversity, ecosystems and other natural resources represent not only environmental assets, but also critical foundations for long-term economic resilience.
Malaysia also performed comparatively well in green economic opportunities, recording 42.06, compared with Singapore’s 36.21. This suggests significant potential for Malaysia to expand green industries, investment, innovation, employment and business opportunities associated with the transition towards a low-carbon economy.
With the right policy support, Malaysia can further transform environmental challenges into opportunities for technological development, entrepreneurship, investment and sustainable economic growth.
In terms of social inclusion, Malaysia recorded a strong score of 77.00, although this remained below Singapore’s 85.83. The result underscores the importance of ensuring that the transition towards a green economy benefits society broadly and equitably.
Green growth should not only create cleaner technologies and industries; it should also create opportunities for people through education, employment, skills development and access to the benefits of sustainable development.
From competition to cooperation
The comparison with Singapore reveals an interesting regional story. Singapore’s slightly higher overall score is supported by particularly strong performance in resource efficiency and social inclusion, while Malaysia’s strengths lie in natural capital protection and green economic opportunities.
Rather than viewing these differences simply as a competition between two countries, they can be seen as opportunities for regional learning and cooperation. Malaysia can learn from Singapore’s experience in resource efficiency and inclusive development, while its own experience in natural capital protection and green economic opportunities offers valuable lessons for the wider region.
The numbers should therefore not be viewed simply as a ranking; they represent a journey of transformation.
Countries in the middle range have an opportunity to accelerate their progress. Those with lower scores can learn from successful experiences while developing policies suited to their own settings. Countries already performing well can continue to innovate and demonstrate that economic prosperity, environmental responsibility and social inclusion can reinforce one another.
For Malaysia, the 2025 results provide both recognition and a call to action. Being the second-highest performer in Southeast Asia is encouraging, but the gap between Malaysia and the highest-performing countries shows that there is still considerable room for improvement.
Strengthening resource efficiency, expanding green investment, encouraging technological innovation and ensuring that the benefits of the green transition reach all sections of society will be central to Malaysia’s future green growth strategy.
An unfinished journey
Unequivocally, the path to green growth will not be smooth. It will require sustained investment in renewable energy, cleaner technologies, efficient resource use, biodiversity protection, green industries, education, skills development and inclusive economic opportunities.
Above all, it will require cooperation – between governments, businesses, universities and communities, and across generations.
The Green Growth Index reminds us that the world has already begun this journey. No country has reached a perfect score, but every country has opportunities to improve. There is progress, there is opportunity, and there is time to triumph.
The future of green growth should therefore not be defined only by how far the world has yet to go, but by how much further it can go together. Every improvement in resource efficiency, every investment in clean technology, every protected ecosystem, every green business created and every person included in the green economy represents another step towards a more sustainable and optimistic world.
The journey remains unfinished, but it has already begun with clear momentum – and the destination remains within reach.
Dr. Tanusree Chakravarty Mukherjee is a lecturer in the Accounting, Finance and Economics Department in the Faculty of Business at Curtin University Malaysia, and leads the Faculty’s ‘Green Economy Roadmap and Sustainable Future’ research cluster. Her research spans Applied Economics and Macro/Microeconomics. She is a Fellow of the UK’s Advanced Higher Education Academy and has received research funding from the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education and Curtin Malaysia for her research projects. She can be reached at tanusree@curtin.edu.my.
