Accountability is necessary to drive climate action and fulfill domestic and international commitments
Climate diplomacy and national policymaking have increasingly called for greater fulfillment of commitments and increased ambitions. This necessitates that countries strengthen governance and institutions to deliver on their promises and be held accountable, both internationally and to their citizens.
When accountability is lacking, corruption can drain public finances, contribute to wealth inequality and deprive citizens — especially those already disadvantaged — of critical services like health, education and clean water.
Corruption and lack of accountability also undermine progress toward climate goals. This can take many forms, from wealthy governments failing to fulfill their finance pledges to greenwashing concerns. At the same time, corruption facilitates illegal logging and mining in areas with critical value for people, nature and climate, such as the Amazon, while large-scale climate adaptation projects are also prone to corrupt practices.
Most government accountability indicators are moving in the wrong direction, but there are some signs of progress
While governance estimates include several subjective measures of processes and the behavior of political actors or institutions, overall trends regarding government accountability and corruption are not encouraging. For four indicators — respect for national constitutions, opposition party oversight and executive oversight by both legislative and non-legislative bodies — the trend is moving in the wrong direction, reflecting a continued deterioration in the rule of law. Similarly, the share of countries where conflicts of interest are published for officials declined from 2021 to 2023.
Nonetheless, some of the indicators in this shift also provide signs of recent progress. The share of countries publishing public procurement tenders and awards has grown slightly, and the independence of high courts has recorded modest improvement since 2021. The number of countries with live registers of beneficial ownership has also shown marked improvement since the first register was launched in 2015.
These indicators highlight the need for accelerated action on government accountability. Practitioners, elected officials and advocates can draw lessons on best practice from initiatives such as the Green Accountability Platform or the Open Government Partnership. By independently reviewing the implementation of government commitments, initiatives like these provide a fertile space for shared learning and collaboration among civil society, government, multilaterals and other actors.
A wide range of measures can help strengthening accountability and anti-corruption efforts
A holistic approach is necessary to ensure greater accountability and eliminate corruption. In this context, the institutions, capacities and incentives that lead to accountability include those covered elsewhere in this system, such as transparency, free press, access to justice and state capacity. The indicators listed in this shift assess whether countries have put in place good practices for accountability in public spending, anti-corruption, oversight, and checks and balances on political powers. At the project level, corruption risk analysis must be strengthened by examining the political struggles over who benefits from natural resources in specific contexts.
Despite public calls for accountability, most countries have not adequately implemented institutions and mechanisms commonly viewed as important checks and balances to political elites and safeguards against corrupt actors. Opportunities to shift from this status quo arise when political and economic elites recognize a sustainable development agenda as aligned with their interests. These opportunities are further strengthened when there is sufficient state capacity to pursue that agenda, along with mechanisms to learn and adapt.
Political breakthroughs on climate change are also more likely when long-term strategies and climate laws are combined with policies that deliver tangible benefits to new constituencies and reduce the costs of climate action. Success also depends on inclusive policymaking processes that address equity and distributional impacts.
The indicators presented in this shift are all directional, with an increasing trend indicating improvements in government accountability and anti-corruption measures. While there are no specified global targets or timeframes, robust and effective governance can only be realized if these key measures show rapid improvement.
This system does not include enabler and barrier indicators, as we assume the outcome indicators in governance enable shifts in other systems.