Ensure transparency and access to information

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Transparency and access to information are essential for effective government coordination, meaningful participation from civil society and building international trust and cooperation.

Transparency is key in holding governments accountable to their stated commitments

The Open Government Partnership — a global partnership of 74 countries and over 150 local governments — defines transparency as a state in which “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the public, and meets basic open data standards (e.g. raw data, machine readability) where formats allow.” This definition may be expanded to private sector organizations receiving public funding or performing public functions.

When governments and companies disclose data and information on their environmental, climate and social impact in a way that is verifiable, timely and easy to access and understand, civil society and other stakeholders can identify where they may contribute or where improvements need to be made. Transparency is an important first step in building trust between governments and their societies, as well as between governments.

Importantly, transparency must be accompanied by accountable delivery on commitments for trust levels to be durable. Evidence also shows that transparency is most effective in leading to government accountability when the information made accessible supports political engagement, impacts voting behavior or otherwise shifts political incentives in favor of the public interest.

Broad progress in government transparency measures, but gaps remain

Over the past few decades, access to information laws, open data practices and other forms of institutionalizing transparency rules have proliferated around the world. These wider efforts are evident in the climate and environment space, such as through open data portals on subnational climate action and national climate finance transparency portals, as well as through multistakeholder initiatives such as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

The broader governance community has produced knowledge from decades of experience in transparency and open data efforts that should prove useful to practitioners and advocates focused on climate and nature governance. For instance, GovLab and Omidyar have derived lessons and recommendations from several case studies on the impact of open data, such as the need to be responsive to users, address specific policy problems, identify risks, build necessary capacities and be adaptive to evolve over time. Transparency efforts often become political, and other researchers have found that the data most useful for citizens seeking to challenge corruption or push for government accountability may not be collected or published.

The indicators in this shift are all directional, with an increasing trend indicating improvements in transparency and access to information. While there are no specified global targets or timeframes, effective civil society participation and public trust can only be built if these key measures of transparency 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.

Tracking progress on global outcomes

3450: Share of countries publishing information to deter corruption and enable public accountability

Status: Wrong Direction

Historical Data Methodology and Challenges:

Number of countries included in the study in 2021 and 2022: 129 countries; 2023 and 2024: 143 countries.

Countries that fulfilled at least 8 out of the 14 T-Index de facto components are considered to have met the threshold for this indicator. Examples of these de facto components include: past expenditures (last fiscal year), current expenditures (budget tracker), public procurement portal, Supreme Court’s hearings schedule, Supreme Court’s rulings, financial disclosures for public officials, conflict of interest disclosures, building permits in the capital city, and official gazette.

Progress Assessment Methodology:

Due to limited data, we used four years of consecutive data instead of five to assess progress.

This indicator assesses the extent to which governments publish information to support accountable governance, derived from the de facto indicators of the Transparency Index (T-Index). The de facto indicators measure evidence of actual implementation, and as such serve as a proxy measurement for national governments’ political commitments and administrative capacity to implement a culture of transparency. This includes, for instance, the disclosure of information on budgets, conflicts of interest, land registers, procurement tenders, judicial processes and other important aspects of public governance.

It is important to assess such practices and actual implementation, as laws establishing the right to information can be undermined by other measures that preempt or undermine transparency efforts.

In 2024, 50% of the 143 surveyed countries had implemented practices that supported accountable governance, meeting at least 8 of the 14 T-index criteria. Data from the past four years shows inconsistent improvement, but a decline to 46% in 2023 suggests that this indicator is trending in the wrong direction.

3451: Countries providing sufficient transparency to the public in national budgeting processes

Status: Right Direction

Historical Data Methodology and Challenges:

Number of countries included in the study in 2006: 59 countries; 2008: 85 countries; 2010: 94 countries; 2012: 101 countries; 2015: 102 countries; 2017: 115 countries; 2019: 117 countries; 2021: 120 countries; 2023: 125 countries.

Countries rated “Sufficient” (Substantial Information Available and Extensive Information Available) were selected. For more information on the rating methodology, please visit the International Budget Partnership page.

Transforming political and economic systems toward a sustainable future requires responsible and accountable use of public finances. If budgeting processes are inscrutable and cannot be tracked in relation to policy priorities, then the public, communities and politically marginalized and climate-vulnerable groups cannot influence public spending.

As of 2023, just 31% of the 125 countries surveyed by the International Budget Partnership’s Open Budget Survey provided sufficiently transparent budget information to inform the public and enable their participation. This suggests that in most countries, relevant budget documents either are not publicly available or are lacking important information on budget execution, debt and fiscal risks, anti-poverty measures, or expenditures by gender.

Though the share of countries performing well on this indicator is notably low, it is nonetheless an improvement, up from 23% of the 115 countries surveyed in 2017. This suggests that this indicator is heading in the right direction.

3463: Global average score on open and accessible statistical systems

Status: Right Direction

Historical Data Methodology and Challenges:

The 2024/25 Open Data Inventory (ODIN) included the following number of countries in its study: 2015: 125 countries; 2016: 173 countries; 2017: 180 countries; 2020: 187 countries; 2022: 195 countries; 2024: 197 countries.

Years for which data was missing (2019, 2021) were treated as unchanged since the previous year. Each country features 21 data categories (education, health, gov vital statistics, gender, money and banking, etc.), each with its own scores and an overall score per category. Since all categories are relevant for this indicator, we calculated the average of the overall scores across all categories to obtain one total overall score per country for the given year.

National statistics offices collect, analyze and publish data and statistics on economics, environment and society that are critical to tracking progress toward sustainable development goals, as well as climate and nature.

This indicator assesses the sectoral coverage and disaggregation of statistics that a country produces, as well as how “open” they are (i.e., open license, machine readable and other open data characteristics).

The Open Data Inventory assesses the openness and coverage of official statistics on a scale of 1-100, based on various criteria to measure the accessibility and availability of disaggregated, time-series data. In 2024, the world’s average score (based on 197 countries) was 56, up from 50 in 2022 and 32 in 2015. This progress was driven especially by improved collection and publication of environmental and economic statistics. On the other hand, social indicators — such as those on health and well-being, nutrition, education and gender equality — are lagging behind.

Echoing the positive trend for this indicator, a recent UN progress report found that, as of 2023, 163 countries and territories had implemented a national statistics plan and 109 of them were fully funded. This is a promising sign in terms of political support for and investment in national statistics.

Key enablers and barriers to change

Other shift Other shifts needed to transform the system

Equitable systems change is impossible without respect for human rights and civil liberties. These rights set the foundation for all people to access essential services, live in a safe and healthy environment, and participate fully in governance.

An independent, impartial and accessible justice system is a critical tool for individuals and communities to protect their rights and obtain justice.

To implement ambitious policies effectively and mobilize public finance for climate, nature and equity, governments must follow through on commitments and enforce laws consistently — even for those with political and economic power.

The ability of any individual or social group to participate meaningfully in political and policymaking processes is a fundamental recognized human right — and a powerful way to advance the voices of those most affected by climate change, social inequality and loss of nature.

Governments should build their capacity to collect tax revenues fairly, secure their borders effectively and maintain skilled bureaucracies that can plan, coordinate, regulate and adapt to new information and technology.

Ensure transparency and access to information

Transparency is key in holding governments accountable to their stated commitments

Broad progress in government transparency measures, but gaps remain

Tracking progress on global outcomes

Key enablers and barriers to change

Other shift Other shifts needed to transform the system

Enable a safe and secure environment for workers, civil society and communities

Guarantee access to justice

Promote government accountability and anti-corruption measures

Ensure inclusive citizen participation in policymaking and political processes

Strengthen government capacity to implement commitments fairly and effectively

Transparency is key in holding governments accountable to their stated commitments

Broad progress in government transparency measures, but gaps remain

Tracking progress on global outcomes

3450: Share of countries publishing information to deter corruption and enable public accountability

3451: Countries providing sufficient transparency to the public in national budgeting processes

3463: Global average score on open and accessible statistical systems

Key enablers and barriers to change

Other shift Other shifts needed to transform the system

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